Today's generation will mostly likely die from diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCD) rather than from infectious diseases like measles or AIDS.

According to Siri Tellier, a lecturer from the Copenhagen School of Global Health at the University of Copenhagen, the present population living in an urban setting will have greater risks of getting diabetes, cancer, heart disease and even chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

According to Tellier, the health challenges in an urban setting includes the poor living conditions in slum areas relative to water and sanitation, and the shift to "modern" lifestyle which include consumption of fatty and salty foods, smoking, alcohol and lack of exercise which are all primers for NCDs.

This is the lifestyle that will be inherited by the next generation which will also influence their predisposition to NCDs. Tellier said that studies have show that healthy aging begins in the womb so the parent's health will determine the health of the unborn child later in life.

Urban lifestyle changes the global health challenges, thus, world citizen number 7 billion, who was estimated to be born on 31 October, will face very different diseases than that of children born only a few decades ago.

"Our new world citizen number 7 billion will probably grow up in an urban setting and will face factors that will increase his or her risk of diabetes, as well as COPD, cancer and heart disease," Tellier said.

"There is also an increasing awareness of the need to help even healthy, young people gain the habits which will predispose them for health in later life. Parents may have a hard time ensuring that their teenagers develops healthy habits, which will follow him or her throughout life, especially if a lack of these habits do not cause ill health immediately," Siri Tellier points out.

The good news is that there has been reduction in the number of child deaths from infectious diseases because of preventive measures such as vaccination. However, there is a need to focus on non-communicable diseases.

"Global disease patterns are changing. As many countries around the world have reduced the great killers such as malaria, we must turn the same effort and resources towards NCD's, as they must be prevented now rather than treated later, said Flemming Konradsen, Director of the Copenhagen School of Global Health at the University of Copenhagen.