Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and committee members.
On behalf of the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada, also known as CDPAC, we'd like to thank you for the opportunity to share our perspective on what needs to be done to prevent chronic diseases, reduce obesity, and facilitate healthy living in Canada.
I am accompanied today by Mr. James Chauvin. We are both volunteer members of CDPAC's advocacy committee.
CDPAC is a network of 10 national organizations that share a common vision for maintaining health and preventing chronic disease in Canada. Chronic diseases are a significant burden in Canada, costing the Canadian economy around $93 billion annually.
Obesity has been linked to the development of chronic diseases. Obesity levels among adults and children in Canada are at historically high levels. No doubt this committee has heard in the past from other witnesses that unless effective interventions are in place to reduce obesity, the youth of today may live shorter lives than their parents do.
We know that to tackle obesity and prevent chronic disease we need a comprehensive, multifactorial, and multi-sectoral approach. In September 2010, the federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of health proposed a framework to promote healthy weights. This framework addresses the need to increase the availability and accessibility of nutritious foods and beverages and to decrease the marketing to children of foods and beverages high in fat, sugar, and/or sodium, which, for the sake of convenience, I will refer to as unhealthy foods.
With respect to marketing to children, the scientific literature is quite clear. The marketing of food and beverages to children impacts on their food and beverage choices. We know that over 80% of the foods and beverages marketed to kids are unhealthy. We also know that unhealthy food and beverage choices do contribute to childhood obesity. There is a definite link between the marketing and the childhood obesity.
The current self-regulatory approach to marketing to children that is predominant in Canada is insufficient to deal with the high rates of childhood overweight and obesity. An exception is the law in Quebec that prohibits commercial marketing directed to children. Interestingly enough, in that province they have one of the lowest soft drink consumption rates in Canada, among the highest fruit and vegetable consumption rates in Canada, and the lowest obesity rate among six- to 11-year-old children.
We recommend that as an initial step the federal government and NGOs work with the food and beverage industry to strengthen the industry's current voluntary initiative that aims to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children. As well, we call on the food and beverage industry, in collaboration with civil society and government, to augment the marketing of healthy foods and beverages to children.
If the above measures do not prove sufficient in the near term, the federal government should immediately introduce regulatory regimes to prohibit the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children.
Now I will turn my attention to the issue of beverages that are high in sugar.
Consider some of these facts. In Canada, consumption rates of sugar-sweetened beverages increase from 10% among children aged one to three to over 40% among youth 14 to 18 years of age. The average Canadian consumes a whopping 73 litres of soft drinks annually. We know that each additional serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage increases the risk of obesity in middle-school students by 60%. Evidence supports the link between the over-consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and the development of obesity among children and also among the general population.
We strongly commend Health Canada for drawing attention to the link between sugar-sweetened beverages and childhood obesity in its current public awareness campaign on children's health. You have no doubt seen the ads. They've been running from December and they go until March 31 on TV, I believe.
What can we do to deal with sugar-sweetened beverages? Raising public awareness is very important, as Health Canada is currently doing. However, one of the measures that we should also consider--within the context of a multi-pronged approach--is taxation.
We know that tax increases for sugar-sweetened beverages have been associated with reduced consumption. For example, as the price of one particular brand of soft drink increased by 12%, sales were seen to drop by 14.6%. Price does have an impact. An added benefit of such a tax is that it would generate substantial revenues for governments, revenue that could be used to support healthy-living initiatives.
A recent public opinion poll found that the majority of Canadians agree that governments should add a tax on sugary drinks if the revenue from the tax is invested in the prevention of obesity and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Similar results have been found in other polls, including in British Columbia, where 70% support was found.
We recommend that the federal, provincial, and territorial governments explore the possibility of introducing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in their respective jurisdictions. We also recommend that the revenues regenerated from these taxes be used to fund healthy-living initiatives.
Finally, although tobacco has not been considered in these hearings, we wish to express support for the extension or renewal of the federal tobacco control strategy. Tobacco control is crucial to chronic disease prevention and healthy living. The existing 10-year strategy expires very soon, on March 31, 2011. Either extending the existing strategy beyond March 31 or announcing a new strategy effective April 1 will ensure that Health Canada's cessation and prevention programs, not to mention the new social media campaign linked to tobacco package warnings, will continue on course.
My very last comment pertains to food security. Food security exists when people have equal access to a safe, nutritious diet. Income-related food security is widely acknowledged as a key social determinant of health. We know that people who live in poverty suffer from a higher incidence of a number of chronic diseases. The effects of food insecurity also have devastating effects on every aspect of a child's development. Therefore, we recommend that the federal government work with other levels of government to develop effective long-term strategies to achieve food security.
Thank you very much.