Healthy Kids - Couverture rigide

All children, regardless of where they live, should have the opportunity to grow up healthy and lead a productive life. As a mother I feel fortunate to live in a place where my children and most other children are healthy because they have access to things like clean water, nutritious food, and vaccines.
            In many other parts of the world, children are not so lucky. In my travels over the last decade to Africa and South Asia, I have met many women who must walk for hours just to fill a jug with clean water or get their children immunized at a local health clinic. Every day, mothers give birth to children who— especially in the early years of life—are at risk of getting very sick from pneumonia, meningitis, malaria, and many other diseases. Over seven million children die each year before they reach their fifth birthday. As my father-in-law, Bill Gates Sr., says, these are not just numbers, these are our neighbors.
            The good news is that the world is making progress. There are millions of healthy kids alive today because of advances such as vaccines, better bed nets to protect against mosquitoes, and improved nutrition and medical care for mothers and their babies.
            As you read this book, think of the millions of children who are fighting every day to survive. But also think of the millions of children who are thriving today because of the great progress that the world has made. We have the tools. We know they work. We owe it to all the children of the world to do all we can to give them the best chance to survive and succeed in life.
            After all, these are our neighbors.
Melinda French Gates
Co-chair and trustee, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

In this new title from The Global Fund for Children, readers learn the different ways kids from around the world can stay healthy. Photographs showcase children from Afghanistan washing their hands, a team of boys from Australia playing sports, a group of girls from Panama wearing their seatbelts. There are many ways kids can practice healthy living, no matter where they live.

In a foreword by Melinda French Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, readers are reminded that not all children are lucky enough to have access to clean water, or to receive vaccines regularly. Back matter includes further information about how to live healthy lives, and how kids can help to improve healthy living around the world so that more kids become healthy kids.

With the establishment of programs like First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative which emphasizes the significance of focusing on children’s health issues around the world, HEALTHY KIDS is a welcome addition that will help increase awareness of this important issue.