Save the Children foundation's Carolyn Miles was discussing conditions she said will lead to 1 billion people dealing with hunger before the end of the year.

As Ms. Miles was doing so, a teenage girl in the audience was discreetly sending text messages. Two girls beside her were conversing intensely through whispers and giggles, and a young man at the end of the row nodded off, using his coat as a blanket.

But once students had a chance to ask questions, the few who weren't listening were outshone by those who lined up in droves to offer solutions beyond those suggested by Ms. Miles.

"I didn't think we would get as many questions at the end of the presentation, and they were great questions," said James Pottinger, gifted coordinator for Gateway High School. "There were so many, they had to be cut off at the end."

The impassioned reactions of students who attended the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh's "Feeding the Future: Security and the Global Food Supply" presentation at Gateway High School last Thursday were typical, according to Ms. Miles.

The chief operating officer and executive vice president of Save the Children, Ms. Miles said she speaks to various crowds about issues that affect world hunger, but consistently sees heightened enthusiasm with younger crowds.

In an attempt to make the most of that connection, Save the Children now runs live Web casts during presentations. At least 184 participants watched online during Gateway's program.

"The reality of population growth and the growth of hungry people and the effect of climate change ... it's something that gets kids' attention," Ms. Miles said. "They think, maybe we should be doing something about this now."

But rather than acting out of fear, most students at the presentation said they offered to support Save the Children simply out of concern for the hungry.

Bill Krut, 17, a Gateway senior, said he does not believe scientific projections surrounding climate change and human behavior, but wants to help with Save the Children's mission.

"I want to do humanitarian efforts when I grow up, and it's not because I saw some kid dying in the street," he said. "It's really more of a self-realization that the sacrifice you yourself make is worth much more than anything you can gain in personal value over the course of your life."

Taylor Madigan, 15. a sophomore at Woodland Hills High School, said she believes most of the students who offered to conduct food drives or raise money for Save the Children will follow through. But she also said those who weren't engaged have probably forgotten the presentation.

"I think that if students are mature and if they actually want to help, then, yes, they will definitely do more to help than the students that just came here to miss a day of school," she said.

Ms. Miles, a Bethel Park native, said the G-20 Summit put the Pittsburgh area in a position where issues such as hunger were at the forefront of local news.

And with young people excited to discuss those issues and work toward change, Ms. Miles believes the region can have a great impact on the goal to eradicate global hunger by 2015.

"It's great to see particularly young people in Pittsburgh looking out, looking at the world, and wanting to get involved."

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