Thanks very much. You're going to see even more duplication, I was going to say, but there are certain commonalities between our presentations.
I'm the chair of the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada. I represent YMCA Canada, where I am the vice-president for children, teens, and young adults. Accompanying me is Mr. Craig Larsen, our executive director at CDPAC.
For your information, CDPAC is an alliance of nine national NGOs. The CDPAC alliance has a vision of an integrated and collaborative approach to promoting health and preventing chronic disease in Canada. Our key activities include knowledge development and exchange, and advocacy for evidence-informed policy, particularly at the federal level.
Given CDPAC's mandate, our messages today have a decidedly chronic disease prevention lens, and we'll focus on a few key areas of concern.
The first, which will carry my greatest emphasis today, is childhood obesity. Given the global epidemic of childhood obesity, its links to chronic diseases and impacts on mental health, we request that escalated and sustained action towards healthy weights for children and youth remains one of the federal government's utmost priorities.
Factors contributing to unhealthy weights are many, complex, and interrelated. Consequently, a multi-pronged response is required. Imperfect understanding of the full array of factors and the mechanisms by which they work should not stop us from taking decisive action in areas where we have ample evidence.
The first area I'll talk about in addressing this is marketing and advertising to children. The scientific literature is clear: marketing to children influences their preferences and choices. Over 80% of the foods and beverages marketed to children are unhealthy, that is, high in fat, sugar, and salt—and unhealthy food and beverage choices contribute to childhood obesity.
In its current form, the self-regulatory approach to marketing to children in Canada, known as the Canadian children's food and beverage advertising initiative, is insufficient. This initiative does not have a strong uniform standard for its member companies to follow. Member companies are able to determine their own nutritional standards and create their own definitions of what constitute children's programming. This initiative also allows for the use of advertiser created cartoon characters, the setting of easy-to-attain standards, and it does not encompass the increasingly broad marketing environment. To be effective these inherent weaknesses must be corrected.
Quebec's Consumer Protection Act is the only law in Canada that prohibits commercial marketing directed at children. Quebec has one of the lowest soft drink consumption rates in Canada and the lowest obesity rate among 6- to 11-year-olds. CDPAC believes that if the self-regulatory approach cannot be strengthened, then laws should be implemented across Canada that build upon the lessons learned in Quebec.
Another area for action now is the issue of sugar-sweetened beverages. CDPAC commends Health Canada for drawing attention to the links between sugar-sweetened beverages and childhood obesity in its public awareness campaign on children's health earlier this year. Within the context of a multi-pronged response to childhood obesity, one measure that should be considered is taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages. Price increases of sugar-sweetened beverages from increased taxation have been associated with reduced consumption. Such a tax would generate substantial revenues for governments that could be used to support healthy living initiatives. A recent public opinion poll found that the majority of Canadians agree that governments should tax sugary drinks if the revenue from that tax were reinvested in prevention of obesity and for healthy living purposes.
The second area of concern relates to the unanswered call for effective crosssectoral policy-making in Canada, which was referenced earlier. Federal public policy that is developed using the social, economic, and environmental determinants of health lenses will lead to a better return on investment than disease-oriented approaches. As noted at the outset of my talk, the need for whole-of-government collaboration is well supported in the key frameworks guiding chronic disease prevention today.
The third area of concern is the ongoing plight of Canada's most vulnerable populations. CDPAC recognizes that our nation does not have the resources to address all needs, so the opportunity costs must be weighed. CDPAC encourages the federal government not to lose sight of the populations bearing the greatest burden of disease. Canadian data on rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, tobacco use, prescription drug use, and suicide paint a distressing picture of life in our aboriginal communities, as we all know. We ask government to strengthen and maintain its investments in healthy living for aboriginal communities, especially in northern and remote communities.
We need a better understanding of the links and pathways among education, health literacy, employment, food insecurity, and chronic disease, and the points at which intervention looks most promising. A coordinating mechanism is needed for evaluation, synthesis, and mobilization of the vast body of real-world evidence that's emerging from many excellent community-driven initiatives at the local aboriginal community level. I think this is a very important role for the federal government.
Finally, we would also encourage the Standing Committee on Health to ensure that the renewal process for the health accord includes a continued and strengthened focus on health promotion and chronic disease prevention, including measurable indicators and targets. CDPAC will be submitting specific suggestions to the appropriate authorities as to how a new health accord could play an important role in chronic disease prevention.
Thank you for this opportunity.