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Health Alert
The time has come to take action for our children’s health
Many specialists predict that today’s children will form the first generation in centuries to obtain poorer health outcomes than the previous generation and to have a lower life expectancy than their parents (1). This can mostly be blamed on the obesity rate, which has significantly increased. Thankfully, this trend can be reversed, but we must take action immediately.
A worrying situation
Over the past 25 years, the prevalence of obesity among Canadian children and teenagers has nearly tripled. Nearly one in four people in Quebec (23%) is overweight or obese (2). This situation is worrying, as youth who are overweight or obese not only risk being obese in adult life, but also risk suffering from complications associated with this condition. Illnesses which used to affect only adults, such as type 2 diabetes, are appearing at an ever earlier age, which can affect life expectancy, and most importantly, health expectancy (3).
Good habits: an important part of the solution
Most of the health problems resulting from overweight can be avoided if we succeed in bringing children to be more active and eat better. The priority should therefore be to help young Quebeckers develop healthy habits and the will to eat well and be more active at an early age. The benefits that come from a healthy lifestyle go far beyond weight control! They include, among other things, the prevention of other illnesses (certain cancers, cardiovascular diseases, etc.), better stress management, a feeling of well-being, increased energy, improved self-esteem, improved concentration and learning abilities and better results in school.
A matter of the heart
Dr. Martin Juneau, a cardiologist and the director of prevention at the Montréal Heart Institute, works in close collaboration with the team of the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie, for he shares the same concerns. Watch him explain why our children’s health is so important to him and why it is essential that we bring them to adopt healthy life habits.
The 5/30 Health Challenge and the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie team up for young people’s health!
Developing healthy life habits at an early age is a chance every child in Quebec should be given in order to grow up to be healthy. Home and school are two key environments to help young people adopt healthy habits such as eating well and being active.
- The Grand défi Pierre Lavoie is a health-oriented event aimed at reaching children through elementary schools.
- The 5/30 Health Challenge aims to reach children through their family. This campaign is an initiative of ACTI-MENU presented by the management of the Montréal Heart Institute (MHI) and the Canadian Cancer Society.
“It is therefore entirely natural that these two challenges should team up in order to reach as many young Quebeckers as possible and help them eat better and be more active,” says Dr. Martin Juneau, co-president of ACTI-MENU, cardiologist and director of the prevention department at the MHI, and a member of the board of directors of the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie.
The 5/30 Health Challenge invites all families in Quebec to take action and have fun with 2 objectives in mind: eating at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables and being physically active for at least 30 minutes, for a minimum of 5 days a week. This campaign, which takes place from March 1 to April 11, is therefore an excellent preparation for students and their parents who will participate in the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie in elementary schools in May. The families having completed the 5/30 Health Challenge will have trained to be active daily and will be ready to successfully and enthusiastically take up the Grand défi. The more prepared the students and their parents are, the more able they will be to help their schools accumulate points as part of the Grand défi in order to increase their chances of going to the great party at the Olympic Stadium in June.
The 5/30 Health Challenge and the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie: taking action together for our children’s well-being!
- House of Commons of Canada. Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids, Report of the Standing Committee on Health, March 2007.
- Shields M. (2005). Measured obesity. Overweight Canadian children and adolescents. Based on the findings of the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey: Nutrition. Statistics Canada.
- Pour un virage santé à l’école, Éducation, Loisir et Sport Québec, 2007.