No Time to Wait: The Health Kids Strategy - Ontario

C.2 Support research on the causes ofchildhood overweight and obesity andeffective interventions.Ontario must develop the capacity toconduct a range of research activities,including randomized trials andalternatives, to understand the causes ofchildhood overweight and obesity andto test interventions during pregnancy,infancy, childhood and adolescence.We must also use findings to continuallyadapt and adjust the strategy.C.3 Establish a mechanism to monitorthe implementation and impact of thethree-part strategy.Ontario should identify an organization,arm’s-length from government, responsiblefor monitoring the three-step Healthy KidsStrategy.Ontario must ensure that efforts toreduce obesity do not inadvertentlystigmatize children who strugglewith their weight or have adverseconsequences.To ensure both strong evidenceand effective implementation, theimplementation plan should establish thebenchmarks and indicators of child healththat will be used to measure progress.It must work collaboratively with federal/provincial/territorial efforts to identifycommon indicators, such as weight, rates ofbreastfeeding, consumption of certain typesof food, physical activity, screen time, andpolicies in schools and other settings.Whenever possible, make accountability formonitoring and reporting on these indicatorspart of funding agreements.Use that information to refine the plan.C.4 Report annually to the public onprogress in meeting Ontario’s target.Report on the indicators established forthe plan. In addition, systematically collectand share stories of real people in realsettings that are having an impact. Includeinformation on the economic and socialimpact of the strategy as evidence emergesthat can support this type of robust analysis.The monitoring plan should identify at leastone indicator for each partner: somethingthat everyone has to measure and report on.52