Council OK's plan to fight child obesity
Date Published | May 18, 2006
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BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
heidi@northernlife.ca
A plan to combat childhood obesity was unanimously approved by the city's priorities committee Wednesday night.
The Mayor and Council's Children First Roundtable requested that council show their support for the report, which was produced by the Sudbury and District Obesity Action Plan.
Provincial research shows 19 percent of Ontario children 2 to 17 years are overweight and 8.5 percent are obese.
The plan outlines ways to work with school boards, the Ministry of Education, the province, the city, employers and parents, to encourage exercise and good nutrition.
Ward 4 Councillor Ted Callaghan was concerned council would be accused of passing judgment on people for what they eat and how they live if they endorsed the report.
But Ward 6 Councillor Janet Gasparini said the idea is to encourage people to live more healthy lifestyles, not make decisions for them.
"Vending machines are a good example. There are studies that show if you put an apple on a tray next to an apple in the machine, people will actually go to the apple," she said.
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