Thank you very much.
On behalf of the Canadian Paediatric Society, I really want to applaud all of you for being here today to take the opportunity to listen to me, a pediatrician; my society, which acts on behalf of children; and my colleagues at the Canadian Medical Association. Together we are really trying to do something to impact the health and well-being of children in Canada.
I don't have to tell you, because you already know, that we have an epidemic of childhood obesity in Canada. This is not unique to Canada and is occurring worldwide, but I believe that Canada is unique in that it has an opportunity to be a leader in this field, to really make a difference at a national level.
This can be accomplished here in Canada before it can ever be accomplished in other countries because we have very good leadership at all levels. So hear me out as I speak to you as a pediatrician on behalf of children and the pediatricians I represent all over Canada about why I think this is an issue and why we really need to do something together.
We know that children are more obese and overweight now than they used to be over 25 years ago. The statistics show that it used to be 15%; now it's 26% or so. We know that there are some children in Canada who are suffering more than others. They seem to be children who have lower socio-economic status, are in aboriginal or native-Canadian populations, and are landed immigrants who have been here for at least 10 years or so. As we strike to make a difference in the lives of our children in the future, we have to make sure all children are reached.
Why are kids overweight and obese? I wish we had one single answer for that. It appears that there is contribution from the intake of inappropriate high-caloric-dense foods--too much soda pop, too many sugar-containing juices, etc.--and not enough infant breastfeeding, but it's beyond that as well. Children have become used to being less active. There are tons and tons of opportunities in Canada and worldwide for children to make their thumbs very active, but not their physical selves. Children have opportunities to watch television and play video games, and they're not active.
I can tell you anecdotally that I had a parent come to me and say, “What do I do? Janey and Johnny are fighting over the Nintendo machine.” I was a little bit alarmed when they said they had found a resolution by buying two machines rather than limiting the amount of time on it and sharing. So we have to bear in mind that parents have an opportunity to be good educators and good role models for their children, not just in healthy nutrition but also in sedentary activities, because we know that kids are not as active as they used to be.
We know that children tend to be less active as they get older, and girls are less active than boys. Not only are they less active in terms of minutes, but they're less active in terms of intensity of activity, and they begin to be less active much earlier than boys. So whatever we decide on as a group to definitely attack this problem, we have to make sure we reach all genders and age groups in terms of activity, sedentary activity, and appropriate nutrition.
When I was in training I had never heard of type 2 diabetes, except as what you'd expect adults to get, but now I'm seeing this in my own office. I'm seeing it in kids in the tween age group, and I'm having to counsel parents with children who are three, four, and five years of age who are starting to show signs of developing the kinds of diseases we used to say only happened to adults. If you can imagine that our children are doing that now, what are they going to be like when they reach adulthood? Is it true that our own children will not live as long as us? Can we afford to let that happen?
We used to say that as physicians the most important thing was to make sure we taught parents and children to adopt healthy lifestyles, eat the right foods, be active, and not smoke. But that doesn't seem to be enough. This problem is far beyond what I can do as a physician. I'm trying. I'm trying really hard, and I can tell you that as a member of the Canadian Paediatric Society we have developed initiatives to help physicians in their offices counsel parents and families on how they can adopt healthy lifestyles.
We have also developed a network of champions across Canada, pediatricians and family physicians who are working with us to develop strategies in the office setting to help families out.
We are also working with hospitals to make hospitals healthier places to work, and healthier places for patients to be admitted, because right now we're part of the problem too.
So whatever strategy we create, whatever we do as a group, we need to be crossing all aspects of society. This is not something that is just something a physician can do. It's way beyond that. We need to attack it at the federal level with terrific leadership, which we know we have, at the provincial level, at the municipal level, and indeed well beyond that in the communities, to the families, to the physicians, to the community leaders, so that we're embracing this and changing our current obesigenic environment to one that is healthy, active, and promoting healthy lifestyles.
I think there are a number of areas that need to be addressed when we talk about changing an obesigenic environment. I wish to tell you today that I had a pill--I wish not to call it a pill--that would fix this problem, by golly it's gone and, wow, nobody has to worry about this any more. And sometimes parents come in asking for that.
Do you know what? There is no such pill. There is no quick solution. And the solution is not one answer; it's a myriad of answers. We really have to take this as a policy that's going to encompass many different strategies.
I absolutely applaud my colleagues at the CMA because they address the needs of all the Canadian population from cradle to grave. We, as pediatricians, obviously have a specific place in our heart for children, infants, and youth. I think it's extremely important that as we create strategies to make a difference for all Canadians, whatever strategies we come up with, whatever we decide to do, we make sure that children's issues are taken as a very important step. Many of the strategies to combat obesity in Canada are secondary obesity-related strategies. Once the adult becomes overweight and obese and is struck with type 2 diabetes, or hypertension and what have you, you are basically using health dollars to get those individuals well. What we have to do is attack the problem before it starts. Prevention is key.
From our perspective, we believe it's important for the federal government to ensure that children and youth have a special focus in the implementation of a national pan-Canadian health strategy. And I would encourage as well that information come from youth themselves. They have a lot to say, and it is in fact them who we are talking for. Should we be? Shouldn't they be at the table? I think so.
We need to make sure we provide funding for municipalities to promote healthy, active living through local programming, especially for children and youth. We should reinstate a federal physical activity contribution program to allow the voluntary sector to help Canadians integrate physical activity into their daily lives. And we should continue funding research that will allow us to identify the issues and treat this problem, and especially prevention strategies that begin in infancy and youth.
We do need to make sure that the national recommendations through the physical activity guide for children and youth in terms of physical activity itself and of course Canada's food guides are widely disseminated and made available to those who require them.
We need to improve accountability from advertisers who are targeting children. Remember that most of the commercials shown during children's programming are for fast foods, soft drinks, candy, etc., whereas only 4% are for healthy food choices.
And very importantly, we need to make sure that we identify and develop culturally based community-run programs, whether they be diabetes prevention or obesity prevention, for our first nations population, and bear in mind also our landed immigrants and what we have to do specifically to address that population.
We would like to encourage you to work with us to ensure our children and youth enjoy the benefits of healthy living. Our health care system will not sustain the burden of more than half a generation at risk for host diseases because of physical inactivity. It's time we looked at this as an ounce of prevention, because we really can't afford a pound of cure.
Thank you.