Ontario declares war on obesity
"We intend to lead our young people from the playstation to the playground"
By Angelo Persichilli
The best way to reduce healthcare expenditure is also the easiest: improve the health of the population. This is the message that Ontario minister Jim Watson is promoting across our Province.
The provincial government of Dalton McGuinty is so convinced of this philosophy that it includes a specific ministry - the Ministry of Health Promotion - entrusted to Watson, a politician who has an intimate knowledge of the difficult art of promotion and who is devoting himself wholeheartedly to this activity, which he regards as a mission.
In an interview to Corriere Canadese/Tandem, Watson remarked that many factors jeopardize our health, but three deserve specific mention: smoking, bad eating habits, and a lack of exercise. The last two, in particular, contribute to obesity, regarded as a cause of many illnesses.
As a confirmation of this dangerous trend, Watson revealed that some auto makers have been forced to redesign their vehicles "expanding the space between the wheel and the driver's seat, and of course lengthening the safety belts." The same goes for airplane seats, increasingly unfit to accommodate the growing number of passengers hauling the sort of "luggage" that cannot go in the hold.
Watson observed, showing the data, that "appropriate diet and adequate exercise can help us lose weight and also prevent 30-40% of cancers."
There's more. Recent research shows that 90% of type II diabetes and 80% of heart diseases could be avoided with regular exercise and adequate diet.
Things have considerably worsened in recent times; in fact, over the last 15 years the number of obese people has grown by 300%, and this is particularly noticeable among our youth.
This spread of obesity has numerous reasons, but minister Watson points his finger against fast-food restaurants. "Just take a look at our cities: new fast-food restaurants open every day, and have invaded even the minor centres."
Another element is the lack of physical activity. "Our youth spend too much time in front of computers, TV sets and gaming consoles. We intend to lead our young people from the playstation to the playground."
Watson also denounced the cutback to physical education programs in Ontario schools.
"This must change, of course, and we are determined to set things straight again."
In order to do so, "we need to talk to our people, inform them of the risks and get as many social and corporate organizations involved," continued the minister.
Watson's message is to "take care of ourselves and our children."
Should this message not be enough, however, Watson has another argument to convince the citizenship to safeguard their health. "Obesity alone," he said, "costs Ontario taxpayers $1.6 billion a year."
His action plan is based on the involvement of the school system. The first move, Watson mentioned, was to get rid of vending machines selling prepackaged food in schools, replacing them with less harmful products.
The changes Minister Watson promotes require a revision of the way modern society lives, works, and has fun.
According to a report from the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health released two years ago, many young people have no opportunity to exercise and are constantly bombarded with commercials inviting them to eat junk food and pop sodas.
Adults have increasingly sedentary jobs, and spend their days sitting in their cars and in front of their computers.
Restaurant portions have been steadily increasing, and many neighbourhoods lack sidewalks and bicycle lanes.
The report also linked family finances to healthy eating. Nowadays, markets offer more genuine foods, but they are more expensive, so poor families fall back on lower quality stuff. Moreover, children from lower income families have fewer opportunities to participate in sports. "In today's Canada," remarked minister Watson, "youth and children are among the least active age groups."
Queen's Park intends to change this situation, and a plan has been prepared with the purpose of identifying the worst hazards to be tackled through the co-ordinated action of several ministries.
The government intends to step up the promotional media campaigns, to raise public awareness, to establish programs to combat these phenomena, to create a province-wide monitoring system and to get the private sector massively involved.
Publication Date: 2006-07-16
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