Thank you and good morning.
One of the most significant risks to the health of Canadians and to the viability of our health care system is the current prevalence of unhealthy weights in children and youth. Over 30% of our children are either overweight or obese, and because of the lifestyle habits ingrained in childhood, the situation worsens with age.
Currently, over 60% of Canadian adults have unhealthy weights, putting them at increased risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke and cancer. On average, obese adults die seven years earlier than healthy-weight peers. Obesity is thought to cost Canada's health care system over $7 billion per year.
The root of this epidemic begins with the unhealthy dietary habits learned in childhood and, to a lesser extent, low levels of physical activity. The COVID pandemic worsened the situation. Sales of unhealthy food increased. Children spent more time on screens, which commonly market unhealthy foods and beverages to children, and youth spent less time being physically active. While Canadian data is sparse, American studies indicate that children demonstrated an increased weight gain velocity during the COVID pandemic.
Having overweight core obesity is detrimental to the health of children and youth. It is associated with increased rates of depression and anxiety, secondary to weight stigma; increased rates of hypertension and metabolic syndrome in adolescence; increased rates of chronic disease in adulthood; and increased costs to the health care system. Each teen who remains obese into adulthood triggers an additional cost of $25,000.
Obesity worsens health disparities. It disproportionately affects indigenous communities, as 87% of first nations women will develop type 2 diabetes due to unhealthy weights, versus an incidence of type 2 diabetes of 46% in non-first nations women.
Obesity hits lower-income Canadians harder. Obesity rates are 28% in the lowest-income quintile versus 24% in the highest. It impacts rural communities more than urban, with obesity rates of 31% in rural areas versus 25% in urban.
Canada needs to take steps to both prevent and treat unhealthy weights in children and youth. However, treatments are expensive and hard to access, and are primarily under provincial jurisdiction. The federal government should focus on effective prevention steps, which are under federal jurisdiction.
The Childhood Obesity Foundation supports the call for the federal government to finalize front-of-pack nutrition labelling and for the implementation of a national school nutrition program. However, the most pressing need, and to some extent the obvious low-hanging fruit, is for government to introduce regulations to restrict the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children.
The remainder of my presentation will highlight the rationale for this important step, which is explained in more detail in the brief submitted to HESA by the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition.
Ninety per cent of the foods and beverages marketed to children promote unhealthy weight gain. In adults, consumption of these products is associated with ill health regardless of weight status. Persuading children to consume food that will ultimately damage their health is unethical. Most children under the age of five years cannot distinguish ads from content. Most under the age of 12 years do not understand the persuasive intent of advertising.
Unfortunately, marketing works. It influences kids' food preferences and food choices. That's why the food and beverage industry spends over $1 billion per year in Canada in marketing to kids. As a result, over 60% of the calories children consume are from ultra-processed, unhealthy foods. Parents are being outgunned by big food and beverage, who are spending massive amounts to produce sophisticated marketing that is flooding the airwaves and the Internet.
Many parents, if not most, are ill-equipped to compete: 10% have mental health issues; 10% live in poverty; 15% have poor literacy skills; 15% are single parents; and 17% are immigrants, a percentage that is growing each year. Recent immigrants are particularly vulnerable as they strive to embrace Canadian culture.
Parents are asking for help. The overwhelming majority want government to help them keep their kids healthy by enacting restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to their children.
Voluntary codes are not effective. For the past 10 years, industry has set its own standards in self-regulated marketing. In June 2021 the industry revised its voluntary code. Although the nutritional criteria are robust, the rules of application have significant loopholes, rendering substantially less protection than the regulatory regimen currently in place in Quebec. The new rules would not even prevent child-directed marketing for such products as Lucky Charms. The fox should not be trusted to guard the henhouse.
Canada's healthy eating strategy, under its objective to protect vulnerable populations, includes restricting marketing and advertising of beverages high in salt, sugars and saturated fats to children. This commitment was included in the government's 2015 and 2021 election platforms, the 2019 federal budget, and four health minister mandate letters.
Health Canada has draft regulations that are poised for implementation. We strongly recommend that they be introduced in Canada Gazette, part 1, by the fall of 2023, as per Health Canada's forward regulatory plan. Government need not and should not wait for the private member's bill, Bill C-252, to wind its way through Parliament. Implementing a regulatory framework to restrict the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages will positively impact the health of our children and must not be delayed.
Thank you.