Thanks very much for all the testimony from all the witnesses. It's been extraordinary. I've been really excited for this study. I'm glad we're focusing exclusively on children for a couple of weeks.
It's been very clear from all witnesses today that the inextricable link between income and health outcomes is critical, and we need to have a greater look at that.
When I look at those UNICEF numbers, I'm troubled as well when I see that Canada ranks so low. Weeks ago I did a little research on child poverty rates in Canada. In 1989 the House of Commons voted unanimously to end child poverty by the year 2000. Despite that, in 2013 it was higher than ever. By 2013 child poverty rates were worse than they were in the 1970s. Since then, thankfully, they've dropped by 71%, but they're still about 4.6% or 4.5%, which is too high for Canada.
I recognize that reducing child poverty doesn't instantly solve the problem, and that health outcomes aren't going to change immediately, even over a couple of years. There are lots of studies that show that if you're poor as a child and not as an adult, then health disparities persist throughout your life. That's something we need to address as well, but through measures like making the Canada child benefit not universal. Not sending $300 cheques to every single family in Canada but rather making it more of a means-tested program has been successful in reducing child poverty rates in Canada, but these numbers are still not satisfactory, particularly when ranked against those of our OECD counterparts.
Dr. Salami, my questions are for you. I loved your testimony. Thank you very much.
I'm particularly interested in subsidies for physical activity for youth. I think physical literacy is one of the best precursors for later health. How can we do a better job of bridging the gap in those OECD numbers, bringing our rank for child health closer to where we would like it to be—in the top 10 ideally, or maybe even better than that?
You have answered the question already, but from the perspective of recognizing that Canada has a low child poverty rate but still really disproportionately poor health outcomes, what can you point to in terms of the cause, and how we can do better?