Endorsement of Ontario’s Healthy Kids Panel Report, No Time to Wait: The Healthy Kids Strategy (Motion #19-13)

Moved by Gingras, Noland. Approved on April 18, 2013, Sudbury & District Board of Health.

Motion

WHEREAS in 2012, the Ontario Government convened the multi-sectoral Healthy Kids Panel to recommend a strategy to meet the Ontario Government’s extremely ambitious target of reducing childhood obesity by 20% in five years; and

WHEREAS in March 2013, the Healthy Kids Panel released its three-part recommendation to government: start all kids on the path to health, change the food environment, and create healthy communities; and

WHEREAS Ontario boards of health are required under the Ontario Public Health Standards to work with community partners to implement effective healthy weights, healthy eating and physical activity programming; and

WHEREAS the Sudbury & District Health Unit received an “B” grade after conducting a self-evaluation of its programming against the Healthy Kids Panel recommendations and identified areas of strength and areas for improvement; and

WHEREAS effective action to prevent and reduce the rates of childhood obesity require cross-society efforts;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health strongly endorse the recommendations of the Healthy Kids Panel; and

THAT in recognition of our area’s elevated rates of overweight and obesity combined with our demonstrated track record of healthy community, intersectoral action, the Board of Health advocate that the Sudbury & District Health Unit area be selected for an EPODE-like program; and

THAT the Board of Health specifically request the development of a surveillance system that includes the NutriSTEP® screening program to monitor childhood weights, risk factors and protective factors; and

THAT the Board of Health direct the Medical Officer of Health to invite community partners to similarly evaluate their work against the Healthy Kids Panel recommendations and then come together to collectively do our best to ensure healthy kids in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts; and

THAT this motion be shared with provincial and local health and non-health sector partners.

This item was last modified on June 12, 2015