Thank you.
On behalf of the Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems, thank you very much for hearing us. The coalition is made up of over 100 partners from various spheres such as the municipal, school and health sectors, who all feel it is important to put in place environments where it will be easier to eat well and to move more.
Today, it is our pleasure to contribute to your reflection for various reasons. Firstly, we all think it is important to curb the current obesity epidemic. This is a complex and costly phenomenon. The cost of obesity is estimated to be $30 billion per year in Canada. Several factors have contributed to the collective deterioration of our health, but our intervention today will focus primarily on sugar-sweetened beverages, whose troubling high level of consumption is concerning. It is blamed by the scientific community and directly identified as a factor in the obesity epidemic.
It is also the only dietary habit that is constantly linked to excess weight in children. Also, it is a cause we can easily target to take action. As members of the Standing Committee on Health, you may give direction to federal government policies, and certain tax or legislative measures could reduce the drawing power of sugar-sweetened beverages and energy drinks. How? By taking action with regard to product composition and packaging, restricting the distribution of these products, prohibiting marketing directed at children, and imposing a tax on soft drinks or energy drinks.
Currently, sugar-sweetened beverages are targeted among others by the World Health Organization and the Government of Canada, as one of the major contributors to the current obesity epidemic. In fact, I want to take this opportunity to praise Health Canada's recent advertising campaign—through it the federal government really took up a position—which finally publicly associated sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity.
Sugar-sweetened beverages are mainly composed of water, sugar or its substitutes, and sometimes of natural or synthetic caffeine. Since you were given the mandate of studying caffeine additives in certain drinks, we have difficulty understanding the government's March 2010 decision to allow the addition of caffeine to non-cola soft drinks in response to pressures from bottlers. We believe that the regulatory framework should be more rigid rather than more flexible with regard to the composition of the product and its packaging, so as to make sure that the consumer is not misled.
Soft and energy drinks are available everywhere. You need only extend a hand to reach for a can. All measures, therefore, aiming to restrict their distribution in the places particularly popular among young people will be beneficial. In order to set an example, we ask the federal government to prohibit the sale of soft and energy drinks in its buildings.
The impressive top line generated by soft drink companies is highly driven by their advertising and promotion. Last May, in Geneva, the WHO promoted the adoption of recommendations to guide the efforts made by member states for the development of new policies or the strengthening of existing policies to prohibit publicity aimed at children.
We now encourage the Canadian government to go further by prohibiting marketing aimed at children, as is the case currently in Quebec. We also ask the government to make its intention clear in preparation for the upcoming United Nations Summit, next September in New York, which will also no doubt address this issue.
We all know that price is an essential factor in the decision process of a purchase. Soft and energy drinks are commonly sold at a low price or with a discount. As opposed to the price of basic products which have greatly increased over the years, the price of soft drinks has remained relatively stable. The evolution of theses prices demonstrates the profit margin these products generate, as well as the low production cost of these beverages.
Many governments have already identified the implementation of a tax as a measure to prevent problems associated with obesity. They have identified it as one of the most promising strategies for governments and a profitable one in terms of cost-health benefits.
Therefore, we propose the implementation in Canada...