Northern Ontario kids continued

The following is the continuation of the Heart and Stroke Foundation's report on the health of Northern Ontario children.

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*************************** These findings - and the presence of variation across the province - echo those found in the most recent Heart and Stroke Report on the Affordability and Accessibility of Food released this past February 2009.

Price of selected food items

“How is it possible to live a healthy life, if you don’t have access or can’t afford basic, healthy food?” says John Binks.

What's happening in Northern Ontario?

The patterns in Northern Ontario are similar to the rest of the province.

However, fewer kids in Northern Ontario were meeting the minimum, daily recommended servings of five fruit and vegetables per day (seven percent compared to 13 percent).

More disturbing is the fact that four out of every five parents report they occasionally or almost always had to skip certain types of food when grocery shopping because of cost.

Only half (50 percent) of children in Northern Ontario are reported to be physically active three or more times a week during the winter months.

The percent increased to 91 percent for the summer months, for a combined average of 70 percent.

What do Ontarians think?

“There are studies every day about the causes of childhood overweight and obesity. But no-one is speaking up on how to make change happen,” says John Binks. “This recent foundation poll of Ontarians shows that people know this is an issue and they cannot solve on their own.”

How we're making a difference

In 2006, the HSFO identified childhood obesity as a critical issue for the future heart health of Ontario.

With 28 percent of Ontario’s children overweight and obese, a rate that has tripled over the past 25 years, today’s children are at risk of developing long-term health effects such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes at a much too early age - through no fault of their own.

As a result, the foundation created a ground-breaking, province-wide initiative called Spark Together for Healthy Kids™ (STHK).

The mandate of this program is to advocate for children’s improved access to physical activity and healthy food and the need to work collaboratively with partners from all sectors to create sustainable solutions.

“When it comes to obesity, playing the ’blame game’ - blaming children, youth, parents, schools or other individuals - is not a helpful or productive approach,” says John Binks. “The issue is very complex - far more than simply individual bad choices. Childhood obesity is a societal problem and will require a societal response.”

As part of the initiative, the foundation created the Spark Community Advocacy Fund which provides financial support to community groups advocating for better, heart healthy opportunities for their children.

To date, the HSFO has distributed more than $500,000 to grassroots organizations across the province.

The Sudbury Good Food Box Committee, which represents more than 12 community organizations, is working together to advocate for a sustainable Good Food Box program that will improve access to healthy affordable food for all community residents, particularly children.

After reporting a substantial increase in food bank usage in Sudbury, the committee was awarded a grant of $4,000 by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.

This funding will be dedicated to the development of internal organizational policies to support the success of the Good Food Box program.

The Healthy Schools Healthy Kids coalition includes partners from the Sudbury and District Health Unit, Cambrian College, Laurentian University and the four school boards in the region. 

With $2,000 from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, they embarked on influencing the educational field trip/excursion policy. 

The advocacy campaign focused on increasing opportunities for elementary school students to participate in field trips that would introduce them to physical activity opportunities in the community. 

Resources outlining local opportunities for field trips that encourage physical activity were also developed.

In Ontario, the foundation has also taken a number of steps to address the issue of childhood obesity in Ontario, including:

- Building partnerships with other organizations that are part of the solution. To date, 23 organizations from all sectors - government, private sector, not-for-profit and community groups support this initiative. This includes financial support from the Ministry of Health Promotion, sanofi-aventis and Canola Council of Canada.

- Producing a number of key reports highlighting the issue of childhood obesity including, Access to Healthy Food, Toward a Healthy Ontario and Recreating A Healthy Ontario.

- Supporting knowledge to action workshops, created in partnership with Queen’s University, which have been attended by more than 500 participants across the province, including First Nations and Francophone communities.

“It is our hope, that by 2010, more than 1,000 community groups are working under the Spark Together for Health Kids umbrella, so we can see real, positive change in the health behaviours of our children in Ontario,” says Brodovsky.

Where do we go from here?

To continue to make progress in protecting and promoting the health of our children and youth, Spark Together for Healthy Kids is committed to working with stakeholders across all sectors.

“In order for us to really effect change, we need to ensure we have effective leadership, dedicated advocacy, sustainable funding and work towards developing healthy public policies,” says John Binks.

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario recommendations:

- Ensure access to adequate, nutritious, safe and culturally appropriate food for all Ontarians that is affordable and accessible.

- Foster action that supports and encourages active living and physical activity.

- Develop essential processes and frameworks at provincial and municipal levels for integrated planning and action.

- Facilitate collaborative and synergistic action by individuals, community groups, not-for-profit agencies, media, private sector and governments.

The cornerstone of this campaign is the Spark Promise to our Children.

This is the foundation’s vision of a healthier tomorrow for Ontario’s children.

The foundation will be encouraging as many individuals and organizations as possible to sign on to demonstrate a groundswell of grassroots support and to build momentum.

To learn more about the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Spark Together for Healthy Kids program, and to read and sign the Promise to Our Children, log onto www.heartandstroke.ca/spark.

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