The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has announced $1.9 million in funding for five projects aimed at combating childhood obesity.
Only 21 percent of Canada’s youth meet international guidelines for physical activity. If the trends continue, there will be a generation of kids growing up in poorer health than their parents.
Nazeem Muhajarine, a University of Saskatchewan researcher who received a portion of the funding, said one in five children in his home province are considered obese.
“This rate of obesity among young children is actually quite unprecedented,” said the college of medicine professor.
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A look at historical data reveals there were no serious levels of obesity or even overweight kids until this generation.
Two factors have led to the epidemic. Children are consuming energy dense food rather than food rich in nutrients and a lack of activity is converting that energy into fat cells.
Obesity isn’t a medical condition but it is contributing to Type 1 childhood diabetes, which is a version of the disease that is acquired through lifestyle choices rather than chemical or genetic factors. Obesity is also associated with heart disease and hypertension.
Muhajarine’s first-of-its-kind research will explore how physical structures like roads, bike paths and the location of parks and playgrounds are affecting physical activity in children.
Many kids participate in organized sports activities but do little in terms of making activity part of their daily routine.
“Sure they’re running around for an hour but the rest of the time they’re not moving much. They’re sitting in front of the TV watching TV or they’re on their gaming console and sometimes they’re eating as well at the same time,” he said.
Muhajarine would like to see kids walking to schools, stores, soccer practices and riding their bikes and skateboards around parks.
“Physical activity that children do as just part of being children,” he said.
Other projects receiving funding are a study on how effective the children’s fitness tax credit has been, a survey of diet and physical activity among Cree schoolchildren in the Hudson and James Bay regions, how family and school environments affect attempts to lose weight and how diet and activity changes by overweight mothers-to-be can reduce the chance of their offspring becoming overweight.
