No Time to Wait: The Health Kids Strategy - Ontario

Income inequality has been increasing inCanada and Ontario over the past generation.The top 10 per cent of Canadians earn, onaverage, $165,322 after taxes while the bottom10 per cent earn $9,790. 63 Between 1981 and2009, the proportion of Ontarians livingbelow the low-income threshold increasedfrom 9.4 per cent to 13.1 per cent. Large gapsbetween the rich and poor are associated withpoorer self-reported health, and are affectingfamilies across Ontario. 64In the national survey, families with ahousehold income below $60,000 were morelikely to say that there was no place to buyhealthy food in their neighbourhood. Theywere also more likely to assign responsibilityfor kids being overweight to fast foodrestaurants and to think that this industryshould play a role in fighting obesity. 65Social determinants of health – includingpoverty, income inequality, food insecurity,and inequitable access to prenatal care –have a disproportionate effect on certainpopulations, including Aboriginal peoplesand recent immigrants. 66Poverty is an issue for young Aboriginalchildren and their families. According tothe Aboriginal Children’s Survey 2006,41 per cent of young First Nations children(aged five and under) living off-reserve and32 per cent of young Métis children werefrom low-income families, compared to18 per cent of non-Aboriginal youngchildren. 67 In Canada, a significant proportionof Aboriginal children (off-reserve) areoverweight or obese: 41 per cent compared tothe national average of 26 per cent. 68 In termsof food insecurity, one in five off-reserveAboriginal households 69 and more thanhalf of the on-reserve households struggleto access healthy food. 70 Food insecurity is aparticular problem for First Nations childrenwhere one out of four lives below the povertyline. 71 Aboriginal children obtain about 10 percent of their energy from traditional foodsand 40 per cent from sugar, fat, highly refinedgrains or junk food. When they have at leastone serving a day of traditional food, theirnutrition is much better. 72 In geographicallyisolated First Nations communities, healthymarket food has to be transported in and,despite government subsidies, is expensive.Traditional foods themselves are expensive –and beyond the reach of low-income families –because of the costs associated with hunting(e.g., boats, snowmobiles, gas, and otherequipment). 73Recent immigrants to Ontario also facesocial disparities. Many are living on lowincomes, 74 and working hard to create anew life in a new country far from familysupports. Our focus groups included parentsfrom diverse cultural backgrounds whotold us that they sometimes have troublefinding or affording their traditional foods,as well as difficulty finding the time to cooktraditional meals.1963 Statistics Canada. (2012). Custom income tabulations for Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. From Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (2009).64 Xi G, McDowell I, Nair R, Spasoff R. (2005). Income Inequality and Health in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Public Health. May-June.65 Ipsos-Reid. (2011). Canadian Perceptions of, and Support for, Potential Measures to Prevent and Reduce Childhood Obesity. Prepared for thePublic Health Agency of Canada.66 Mikkonen J & Raphael D. (2010). Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts.Toronto: York University School of Health Policy andManagement.67 Smylie J. (2009). Indigenous Children’s Health Report: Health Assessment in Action. Keenan Research Centre. The Centre for Research on Inner CityHealth. Li KaShing Knowledge Institute. St. Michael’s Hospital.68 Shields, M. (2006). Overweight and obesity among children and youth. Statistics Canada Health Reports:17;3.69 Canadian Community Health Survey 2007-2008. Statistics Canada.70 First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) (2012). First Nations Regional Health Survey (RHS) 2008/10: National report on adults, youthand children living in First Nations communities. Ottawa: FNIGC.71 Standing Committee on Health (SCH).(2007). Report of the Standing Committee on Health. Healthy Weights For Healthy Kids. House of Commons.72 Ibid.73 Ibid.74 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011). Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising. OECD.