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h v saturday nov 2 2002 economist sun stouffville tribune healthy living by simone joseph staff writer johnny wakes up at 740 eats his sugar- coated cocoa puffs hops into his used car and heads to high school 20 minutes away too far to bike or walk to he heads to english class followed by french at 1 140 am he grabs a large carton of fries smothered with gravy a burger topped with all the fixings and a can of pop from the vending machine after sitting through two more classes he drives to his job at bobs tunes his main motivation for working there is spending money and to get a major discount on cds the store is right next to the malls food court during his dinner break he grabs combo 2 chicken balls dripping with sweet-and- sour sauce an egg roll fried rice and a pop all for 599 they need a lot of opportunities for different activity they need fun a break in their day if they are physically active they can learn better johnny is a fictional character but he rep resents the type of lifestyle and lack of activi ty that makes many teenagers unhealthy inactive and overweight according to sharon delurey baker public health nurse with york region health services like johnny reallife teenagers spend much of their day in class studying at home or working at jobs that often provide access to highfat foods says mrs delurey baker who visits schools to encourage physical activity the curriculum is heavy teenagers are sitting a lot without any policy around that exercise she says between grades 9 and 13 the ontario ministry of education only requires students take one physical education credit mrs delurey baker believes exercise should not be optional but integrated into every teenagers school day they need a lot of opportunities for dif ferent activity they need fun a break in their day if they are physically active they can learn better a study published in the new england journal of medicine in september looked at activity levels in adolescent girls in the united states it said when girls reach their teens they exercise less the cause of this drop is not known according to the study inactivity can lead to obesity which is a major problem in canada according to health minister anne mclellan this week the federal government announced it would spend 15 million to study obesity in canadians estimates suggest close to half of adult canadians are overweight and that one in six is obese ms mclellan said tuesday the effort being announced today will help develop an under standing of the root causes of this epidemic pro viding health professionals policymakers and the canadian public with the knowledge they need to prevent and treat obesity and maintain healthy body weights the focus of the obesity research will be decided when the canadian institutes of health research the gov ernments health research funding body chooses which researchers applications will be approved but why should we research causes of obesity when they are already known to be overeating and lack of exercise it is the whys of overeating and lack of exercise we dont yet understand says diane finegood sci entific director for the institute of nutrition metabolism and diabetes one of 13 institutes of the canadian institutes of teen health research we know girls dont have enough activity but we dont know what moti vates their behav iour she said in a phone interview york regions health department and the york region district school board realizes obesity inac tivity and poor eating habits are problems and is planning programs to combat and prevent this york region health services hopes to study the food offered in school cafeterias vending machines and during special event days across york region we know obesity is on the rise the curriculum supports healthy eating now we want to make sure the school environ ment supports healthy eating too said lucy valleau public health nutritionist last year teachers were offered workshops on how to teach students about body image enjoying healthy eating and exercise heather sears a health and physical education con sultant for the public board believes exercise and healthy eating need to be ingrained in children at a young age while the ministry of education requires elemen tary students to participate in vigorous activity for a sustained period of time each day ms sears believes with the demands of the ministrys new curriculum teachers are hav ing a difficult time putting this into practise she hopes however several new pro grams will help physical activity become a reality in the classroom one such program completed in march and scheduled to be introduced this school year is a series of units developed by the ministry to integrate exer cise into academic subjects for example merging physical activity into the grade 1 literacy curriculum know obesity is on the rise the curriculum supports healthy eating now we want to make sure the school environment supports healthy eating too an online physical education resource planned for teachers and written by health educators in york region will provide teach ers with one activity for every day of the school year but ms sears believes more needs to be done for youth especially girls teens should have to take one physical education course each year and inactive girls should be asked why they dont exercise and which activities in which they would like to engage she says we can speculate all we want but there needs to be discussions with girls for information on health canadas physical activity guide call 18883349769 or go to canadas physical obesity facts if a childs parents are both obese there is an 80per cent likelihood the child will become obese this is due to a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors the estimated cost of obesity in canada in 1997 was more than 18 billion about 24 per cent of the total healthcare budget more girls than boys between the ages of 12 and 19 were physically active in the 20002001 year sixtyfour per cent of girls were deemed physically active com pared to 42 per cent of boys overweight children and adolescents are at a substan tially increased risk for developing several cardiovascu lar disease risk factors such as elevated blood choles terol levels and high blood pressure as well as other health problems sources national institute of nutrition canadian medical association journal statistics canada and yon region health services school health connection a newsletter for elementary school teachers volume 2 issue 6 february 2002 come to our optometry practice on wednesday november 13 2002 between 1000 am and 100 pm for an eye health clinic on diabetes and its impact on your eyes health we will be holding a clinic for people diagnosed with diabetes anyone who is not eligible for an eye examination under ohip will receive a free eye examination on the day of this clinic call ahead for your appointment dont lose sight of diabetic eye disease dr h h walji optomertrist 6633 hwy 7 east markham 471eyes 3937