With roughly 34% of its children being overweight or obese, 70% of its children not eating the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per day and 60% of its children spending more than two hours per day in front of a computer or television, it's no wonder Canada's New Brunswick province is concerned about the future health of its next generation.
Acknowledging the problem, Premier Shawn Graham who served as wellness minister until recently said to reporters that, "There is a huge hill to climb here."
Fortunately, last week, According to an article in Canada's Times & Transcript, New Brunswick's provincial government began its uphill battle and hopes to see noticeable improvement by no later than 2011. Responding to a legislative committee's report on wellness presented last year, the government adopted a new health and wellness strategy that focuses on four main goals: improve mental fitness and resilience, increase physical activity levels, increase rates of healthy eating and increase the rates of people living tobacco-free.
In order to achieve their goals, the government, led by Hedard Albert, the minister responsible for wellness, will be focusing their efforts on changing the mindset of New Brunswick's youths and, as Albert stated, "will work very closely with youth, young children, families, communities."
In not only passing legislation that bans smoking in cars carrying children and displays of cigarettes but also boosting the amount of time youths spend in gym class and making it easier for school to hire physical education teachers, the government hopes to meet a number of future targets it has set for itself (including the number of children eating the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables).
But not everyone thinks the government's plan is particularly healthy. Mark Tremblay of Active Health Kids Canada noted that, while the government has created those targets, it has not outlined any specifics as to how those targets will be met. He also pointed to the difficulty of changing people's habits given the strategy's short timeframe.
"It's tough to change behaviours, especially in a world where many, if not most, of the social and environmental influences are pushing us in the opposite direction, really," he said. "Much of the changes we make to our built and social world are those that promote sitting and not moving."
Tremblay will need to wait two years to see if he is proved correct. In 2011, l'Universithe University of New Brunswick will evaluate the progress New Brunswick had made on wellness since 2006. Until then, New Brunswick will continue their efforts and will continue to hope that their future generation will buck the increasing trends that currently plague its population.
Peter Washkowitz
petercure@gmail.com
www.RunnersWrite.com
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