Justine Thomson, Australia
Prior to starting medical school I worked as a high school teacher at a large comprehensive high school in a rural town in Northern NSW. Throughout my time teaching I saw first hand how the habits formed in youth followed young people into their adult lives. For many students they were able to develop healthy lifestyles with good dietary choices, physical activity and smart drug and alcohol choices, for many others their family background and external influences impacted heavily on the choices they made. Many students started smoking at young ages and found it very difficult to stop. Others even at young ages made irresponsible alcohol choices and commenced many years of abusive alcohol use and binge drinking. Still others failed to find physical activities that they enjoyed and struggled to stay healthy and well. For many of these students the impact of their family and cultural backgrounds dictated the choices they made in life. Throughout the town where I worked obesity levels were high and the levels of diabetes, heart disease and cancer were always rising. For many of these teenagers this is their future and too often many of their parents were sick or hospitalised for non communicable diseases based on their own lifelong patterns. I truly believing changing the narrative is within each of our powers, and that the younger we engage people in healthy lifestyle choices - through a multisectorial approach - the better the future of NCDs will appear.