Country in need of ParticipACTION
Jun. 20, 2006. 01:00 AM
JIM WATSON, MPP
It was more than 30 years ago that a comparison of physical activity levels between a 60-year-old Swede and a 30-year-old Canadian sparked a national uproar that highlighted low physical activity levels in Canada.
ParticipACTION — the social marketing genius behind this claim — became a household name. ParticipACTION brought attention to the epidemic of physical inactivity in Canada and challenged Canadians to get moving throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s. Using a fun, playful and humorous approach, their social marketing campaigns motivated and supported a generation of Canadians to get physically active.
ParticipACTION's national campaigns earned them brand name recognition that is unprecedented in Canadian social marketing history.
But more importantly, the campaigns coincided with rising physical activity levels in Canada. One study notes that from ParticipACTION's inception in the '70s to the mid- '90s, physical activity levels actually increased by more than 30 per cent among Canadians. While one cannot make a conclusive correlation between the ads and the rise of physical activity levels, it is impossible to rule it out as a very likely contributing factor.
Where are we today? Sadly, in 2006, less than half of Ontarians get the recommended 30 minutes or more of physical activity per day. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last 15 years. More than half of all youth aged 12 to 19 are not active enough to achieve health benefits. Youth have gone from the playground to PlayStation. One out of every two Ontario adults is either overweight or obese. Obesity costs Ontario $1.6 billion per year in health-care costs. Ontario is in the midst of an obesity epidemic.
The Canadian Community Health Survey released last week by Statistics Canada indicates that almost one in every six adults in Canada is obese. If you include overweight adults in that equation, it is estimated that almost half the adult population has a weight problem.
The statistics speak for themselves. We need to stop this trend. One of the ways to do this is through awareness and education — something ParticipACTION did with great success.
From a value for dollars perspective, combined private sector and media support in an "average" year exceeded government funding by a ratio of almost 10:1. Over the 30 years, all of ParticipACTION's media exposure was donated and had an estimated total value of more than $250 million.
Regrettably, in 2000, the federal government cancelled its contribution to ParticipACTION. Despite valiant efforts by its volunteer board, without government support the program and its advertising virtually vanished.
I have raised this issue with federal Health Minister Tony Clement and he is sympathetic to my call to action.
Next week in Ottawa, sport and recreation ministers from across Canada will gather for our annual meeting. I will be urging the federal government to initiate the relaunch of this effective campaign in partnership with the private sector, provinces and territories.
As the minister of health promotion in Ontario, I am committed to healthy Ontarians. I know firsthand that they are increasingly interested in staying physically active as a way to avoid the onset of serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Let's take action on inactivity and obesity now. Bring back ParticipACTION and encourage all Canadians to be active.
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