Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Health for this opportunity to speak about the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's contributions toward health promotion and disease prevention.
CIHR proudly supports basic biomedical and patient-based research. These are essential to improving our current understanding of the causes and the underlying mechanisms of chronic disease. By better understanding the causes, we can determine more effective strategies to address underlying risk factors and thereby prevent disease. CIHR also funds clinical patient-based research to determine the best ways to manage and treat chronic diseases. This type of research provides high-quality evidence to improve clinical practice, enhance patient care, and optimize health outcomes. CIHR is working together with provincial and territorial governments, health charities, academic health care organizations, and representatives of industry to develop a comprehensive strategy for patient-oriented research. This strategy aims to strengthen clinical research and improve the transfer of research evidence into evidence-based practice so that the right patient receives the right treatment at the right time.
This strategy offers the opportunity to move bench-top discoveries to the clinic or bedside and has the potential to radically improve the lives of Canadians suffering from chronic disease.
A compelling Canadian example to illustrate such an impact is the discover of insulin. I recently participated in events to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, done in Canada by Drs. Banting and Macleod, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923. Thanks to this discovery of insulin, today many Canadians with diabetes live long, healthy, and productive lives.
CIHR provides funding to support research across the country that addresses chronic disease. For example, CIHR provided $44 million in 2010 to support Canadian diabetes research, and millions more to support research related to cancer, heart disease, and strokes.
Dr. Edwards already spoke about the risk factors associated with chronic disease, such as lack of physical activity, poor diet, smoking, and excessive use of alcohol. Together with my colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada, I want to add obesity to the list of risk factors, because obesity is now a world-wide epidemic. Since 1980, obesity rates have doubled or even tripled in many countries. Indeed, in more than half the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, more than half the population is classified as being overweight. We don't have reason to be complacent in Canada, because in 2007–08, roughly one in four Canadian adults was obese, and a quarter of Canadian teenagers were obese or overweight during the same time period. A recent international review of the CIHR confirmed that our institute's strategic focus on obesity has had a transformative impact on this field of research in Canada, and that our institute has built a community of obesity researchers of international visibility and international stature.
Much of the obesity research funded by CIHR focuses on prevention. For example, CIHR funds research projects on how the built environment and neighbourhood design impacts obesity, on how tax incentives affect children's physical activity, and how a family intervention program for obese and overweight women during pregnancy and the first year after delivery affect childhood obesity. As examples of outstanding research CIHR has funded, I will cite the work of two researchers who are both undertaking research related to the school environment and its impact on childhood obesity. Dr. Rhona Hanning is looking at the impact of a school-based education program on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and body weight in children. Dr. Veugelers is performing an economic evaluation of a school-based program aimed at the prevention of childhood obesity.
Moving forward, our institute has prioritized research in the area of food and health. According to the World Health Organization, nutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies continue to be a widespread problem globally, especially among women and children. These deficiencies often co-exist with obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. A diet high in sugar, salt, and saturated fat and low in nutrients is linked to some of the most prominent chronic diseases in Canada, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancers.
In November of last year, our institute hosted a national workshop to identify research gaps and opportunities in the area of food and health research. This workshop highlighted research related to nutritional vulnerability, emerging food technologies, food policies, food security, and human nutrition. We will soon be launching a research funding opportunity to catalyze food and health research in Canada and build on a recent funding opportunity that we supported in the area of sodium reduction and how it impacts human health.
CIHR's ongoing investments in research will serve to transform health promotion and disease prevention efforts, as well as impact clinical practice so as to improve the health of Canadians and contribute to a stronger and sustainable health care system.
Thank you for your attention. My colleagues and I would be pleased to take your questions, comments, and feedback. Merci.