A Fourth of Canadian Children Overweight
23/11/2011 – A new international study has found that one in four Canadian children are overweight. In contrast to developing countries, obesity and poverty in Canada are inextricably linked.
A new report released today by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that one in four Canadian children are overweight. The country’s obesity rate is the third highest in the developed world.
The OECD report, Health at a Glance, combined health data from 34 countries in order to glean the state of health systems in wealthy countries. Only Italy and the United States had worse childhood obesity indicators than Canada; however, Canada also has the infamy of boasting the highest diabetes rates.While some children may shed the pounds as they grow up, others will become adults suffering complications from diabetes, heart disease or other chronic illnesses.
According to the results of a Canadian Community Health Survey, children who watch more than two hours of television per day are twice as likely to be overweight or obese than those watching less than one hour.
Thirty years ago, only 15 per cent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 were reported to be obese. By 2004, the proportion of overweight children in Canada had ballooned to 26 per cent. Type II diabetes, once known as adult-onset because it was rarely seen in people under 40, is now being diagnosed in children as young as nine or ten years old. Dealing with diabetes alone could eat away at 15 per cent of health care spending.
Yet, parental perceptions of children’s weights appear to be incongruent to reality. The results of a British survey found that several hundred parents of all weight categories did not view their child as overweight. Even when the child was obese, half of the dads and one-in-three moms demonstrated a lack of concern, thinking that their children looked just “about right.”
Stronger commitments to lifestyle changes and improved health care systems are essential to helping children – and adults – maintain a higher standard of health. Individuals and parents must also take responsibility for their weights. France and Germany, for instance, have kept childhood obesity rates under 20 per cent, emphasizing healthy lifestyle decisions.
Eat Right Ontario recommends such measures as limiting access to television and computers, while increasing family outings involving physical activity (hiking, biking, skiing, etc.), childhood sports and encouraging healthy eating habits.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described childhood obesity as “one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century.” Globally, 42 million children under the age of five were described as overweight in 2010.
It may seem as though obesity is the product of wealth and overindulgence. Indeed, an article published by CBC last year by paediatrician, Brett Taylor, found that “in developing nations, obesity exists largely within a narrow class of individuals who can afford more food than they need.”
However, when it comes to developed countries, such as Canada, “obesity is increasingly coming to be seen as a disease of the poor.” While many factors contribute to obesity, economics is certainly one of them. High-quality food and sports can be expensive, while low-income neighbourhoods don’t always have access to quality recreational facilities.
The fight against childhood obesity is essential to children’s health as well as a proactive fight against chronic diseases. It seems that it will also require a fight against childhood poverty.
