In a nation of unhealthy, overweight citizens, too many kids go to school hungry, the Commons health committee has been told.
During the next several weeks the committee will study healthy living during presentations from government officials, health advocacy groups, and food industry representatives.
The Canadian Diabetes Association and the Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems told MPs at a Feb. 3 meeting that nearly one quarter of Canadian adults are obese while one quarter of children are overweight. Overeating, poor food choices, and a lack of physical activity runs up a $30 billion tab in health care costs and lost economic productivity.
Yet Health Canada has dragged its feet on stricter nutritional labeling and public education. At the same time, the groups said, the federal government has not followed Quebec’s lead in regulating food marketing directed at children.
The coalition has suggested a tax on soft and energy drinks could be reinvested in educating Canadians about health and nutrition. Director Susie Pellerin said the World Health Organization has asked governments to restrict the promotion of products with low nutritional value. Canada is expected to have a position on the subject by September when the United Nations holds a summit on the issue in New York.
Aileen Leo of the diabetes association said Canada needs a national strategy to promote nutrition and healthy weights. Cases of diabetes in Canada have doubled in the past decade and will likely double again in the next one, she added.
Bill Jeffrey, head of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, said the federal government could also help by making a plan to reduce sodium in the Canadian mandatory and stop stalling on reducing the use of transfats in prepared and restaurant foods.
Meanwhile, Liberal and NDP MPs are concerned about hungry school children.
Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan says Canada needs a national school breakfast program. “Canada is the only industrialized country without such a program,” she said. “If kids are hungry, they can’t learn.”
Duncan was involved with a breakfast program in Toronto before entering politics. “Too many kids go to school hungry and that affects their ability to learn as well as their long-term health.”
Duncan said health officials should look at what school breakfast programs have accomplished in the United States.
NDP MP Carol Hughes supported Duncan. “It’s crucial,” she said. “We also have to make sure social assistance rates are high enough to support a healthy diet.”
Kim Elmslie, director general of the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said the government helps fund 440 community-based, healthy eating programs across the country. “We’re in the early stages of talking with the provinces.”
But, she added, there’s been no discussion of school breakfast programs. “We’ve received no requests.” The provinces control education and have moved to ban junk food from school cafeterias and vending machines. Still to come is a concerted education program for young people, officials said.
Conservative MP Patricia Davidson said the government must clear up the confusion caused by a lack of standardized serving sizes on the nutrition required on all packaged foods. Currently they make comparisons among products almost impossible.
Samuel Godefroy, director general of the Food Directorate at Health Canada, said the department is working on a solution. “We don’t want levels of sodium in products to appear similar because one company uses a smaller serving size. We’ve asked the food industry for ideas on how to fix the serving size issue.”
Donaldson said the department should also put more effort into educating the public on how to interpret the nutrition facts box.