Thank you.
I'm here in my capacity as the director general of the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion.
As you know, healthy eating and physical activity play a very important role in promoting healthy weights and reducing the risk of obesity and overweight.
The issues related to obesity are an important consideration in the work that we do, including, of course, the revision of Canada's Food Guide.
The new food guide will in fact provide much more precise guidance about the amount of food from each food group that is appropriate for Canadians two years old and over. The guidance will be age and sex specific so that there will be no guessing, if you're of a particular age or sex, about how much food you need to consume.
More specific guidance will be given on the types of foods to choose and limit. For the first time, Health Canada is developing, with its partners, a tailored version of the food guide specific to first nations, Métis, and Inuit. In order for the guide to be an effective tool for aboriginal people, it's being tailored to specific audiences. Key messages in this tailored guide will promote eating that recognizes the importance of traditional and non-traditional foods in the diets of first nations, Inuit, and Métis consumers today.
The dietary pattern in the food guide is designed to encourage food choices that are relatively low in calories. While the food guide contains an important policy--it defines healthy eating--it is only one element within a broader comprehensive strategy needed to improve nutritional health and well-being.
Dr. Taylor referred to some national and international strategies such as the WHO's global strategy on diet, physical activity and health, the pan-Canadian healthy living strategy, and some of the initiatives that have evolved, such as the joint consortium for school health. We work very closely to ensure that nutrition and healthy eating components are being looked at. Comprehensive action by all sectors and at all levels is needed. We need policy, evidence, leadership, capacity, and information.
A comprehensive review of the literature published in the supplement to the Canadian Journal of Public Health last year on the determinants of healthy eating has confirmed the need to understand the broad factors that influence eating. It is clear that Canadians are eating too many calories for their current inadequate levels of activity. Food is everywhere. Time pressures faced by families have changed the way Canadians are eating. For the first time in 35 years, we now have national data on what Canadians are eating.
We're working closely with Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to build capacity and research opportunities using these new data. Research from these data will provide valuable insights not only into what Canadian adults and children are eating, but also into the underlying factors, such as income, that influence eating patterns.
Information and public education are components of a comprehensive strategy. Education on the use of nutritional labelling, and information on what healthy eating is, contained in such tools as the food guide, are key examples.
Action to improve nutrition is a shared responsibility, so collaboration with partners in all sectors and at all levels, including provinces, territories, health, agriculture, education, and social services are all fundamental. Canada is making important strides. It's gratifying to witness the growing prevalence of healthy offerings in schools, on restaurant menus, on grocery shelves, and at breaks in meetings such as this.
Canadians live in an environment that poses unprecedented challenges to the goal of healthy eating. We need to create the social, physical, and economic environments that will support healthy eating and make it possible.
We look forward to the outcomes of your study and the contribution it will make to future actions that are aimed at childhood obesity. Your work is critical.
Thank you.