Obese kids creating generation that will live shorter lives than parents

OTTAWA (CP) - A shocking epidemic of childhood obesity is creating the first generation of Canadians that will live shorter lives than their parents, says a report detailing staggering numbers of overweight youth. Twenty-six per cent of Canadians ages of two to 17, along with 55 per cent of natives on reserve and 41 per cent off-reserve of the same age are either overweight or obese, says the committee report. "We're killing our kids with kindness," warned Conservative MP Rob Merrifield, chairman of the Commons health committee which produced the report after nine months of consultations.

"Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in Canada," says the all-party report, adding Canada has one of the world's highest childhood obesity rates, ranking fifth among 34 OECD countries.

The federal government must ban trans-fats and immediately launch a public awareness campaign to warn of the looming health care crisis.

Obesity triggers a range of preventable chronic diseases and premature death, the panel says - serious enough for adults but even more serious to children, who may develop chronic ailments at an uncharacteristically early age, the MPs warn.

The risks include developing Type 2 diabetes, heart attack and stroke risk, joint problems and mental health issues.

"The committee was shocked to hear how much overweight and obesity rates among children and adolescents in Canada have increased over the past three decades," said the all-party report, entitled "Healthy Weight for Healthy Kids."

Fifteen per cent of children were either obese or overweight in 1978. That figure had ballooned to 26 per cent by 2004 - thanks largely, the panel reported, to bad diets and poor exercise habits bred by television and video games.

Children are too commonly eating larger portions, more fatty and processed foods, and drinking too many sugary drinks, the committee found.

"The link between obesity and the increased consumption of sweetened drinks is particularly disturbing," said its report. "It has been estimated that sugary drinks may be responsible for as much as one pound per month weight gain in adolescents."

The committee highlighted the correlation between food-and-beverage advertising and childhood obesity, particularly with respect to advertising of high-calorie and low-nutrient foods and beverages to children.

But it stopped short of recommending an all-out ban on children's food-and-beverage advertising, calling instead for a review of the industry's existing self-regulation regime.

"Such a review should indicate whether or how the two voluntary codes should be strengthened," it said.

"The committee is also concerned about the impact on children of food advertising on the Internet and believes the potential for regulation in this area must be examined."

General obesity costs Canada about $1.6 billion a year in health-care costs, or 2.4 per cent of total health spending. The panel said it costs the economy another $2.7 billion in lost productivity, disability insurance, reduced quality of life and mental health problems due to stigmatization and poor self-esteem."

Obesity outranks smoking and drinking in its impact on health and costs related to health-care, it said.

As overweight children of today become tomorrow's obese adults, the burden on the health care and social systems is expected to increase," cautions the 60-page report.

Among the rest of its 13 recommendations to the federal government:

-Set targets to achieve healthy weights for children through physical activity and healthy food choices, including halting the rise in childhood obesity by 2010 and reducing the rate of childhood obesity to at least six per cent from eight by 2020.

-Collaborate with First Nations and Inuit to curb obesity among aboriginal children.

-Help communities provide programs and facilities to promote active lifestyles.

-Increase public awareness of the importance of diet and exercise through programs such as Participaction.

-Implement a mandatory, standardized, simple, front-of-package labelling requirement on pre-packaged foods for easy identification of nutritional value and promote the plan to parents through an aggressive media campaign.

The Canadian Press, 2007