MP proposes National Health and Fitness Day | canada.com

OTTAWA ? B.C. Conservative MP John Weston, his fitness instructor wife Donna, and their three soccer-playing kids all have black belts in tae-kwon-do.

When Weston arrived in Ottawa as a rookie MP in 2008, one of the first things he did ? after noticing the unhealthy lifestyle of many MPs ? was to set up a program to encourage parliamentarians from all parties to swim, run or walk once or twice a week.

On Monday, the 54-year-old, Mandarin-speaking, Harvard-educated, marathon-running lawyer went a step further with the introduction of a private member?s bill to create a National Health and Fitness Day.

Weston?s bill calls on municipal governments to provide free or reduced-rate access to their fitness centres the first Saturday of June each year.

His goal is to create the ?fittest nation on earth? ? a tall order given that the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development says Canada has one of the highest obesity rates in the western world.

And just last week, Statistics Canada reported that 31.5 per cent of Canadians between ages five and 17 are overweight or obese.

Excess weight among children leads to diabetes, high blood pressure, and thickening of the arteries in adulthood, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP Weston said at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.

?This is the first generation of Canadians who will die at a younger age than their parents,? he said, according to a copy of his prepared statement.

Weston told reporters his proposed bill is about fitness, not fatness.

?We are not creating a National Skinny Day. My wife Donna, a fitness instructor, likes to tell me I?m way too thin. And, while some people may see losing weight as an end in itself, today?s initiative is not about that.

?The bill I introduced today aims to increase the health of Canadians by increasing our physical participation rates.?

While private member?s bills rarely pass, Weston said he has the support of all four parties represented in the House of Commons. Two MPs, the NDP?s Peter Stoffer of Nova Scotia and Liberal Kirsty Duncan of Ontario, have publicly endorsed Weston?s initiative.

Weston said he already has the support of every municipal government in his riding, one in Nova Scotia, and on Monday the City of Ottawa endorsed his efforts.

But two experts on obesity and nutrition issues questioned the utility of Weston?s bill.

?I don?t want to be too down on it, but there are at least a half-dozen things the federal government could do that could be effective, and this probably doesn?t make the top-50 list,? said Bill Jeffery, national coordinator for the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, which advocates on nutrition issues from offices in Washington and Ottawa. ?So it?s hard to get enthusiastic about it.?

Jeffery said the federal tax system should be geared to favour healthy food, and hasn?t done enough to properly label and regulate trans-fat and sodium levels in packaged food products.

Ottawa should also regulate commercials geared toward kids, he said.

?It?s not disputed that children lack the cognitive maturity to properly interpret advertising, and yet almost everything the things advertised for children are not good for their health,? he said. ?It?s junk food that keep kids sitting on their butts.?

Dr. Arya Sharma, chair of obesity research and management at the University of Alberta, called the bill ?simplistic.?

?Policies to get Canadians moving and eating better are great ? but reducing obesity simply to a matter of diet and exercise is far too simplistic and does a disservice to the many people struggling with excess weight,? he said.

Obesity is a chronic disease with only treatments, and no cure, and can be caused by stress, food insecurity, mental health issues, time constraints and the widespread availability of unhealthy fast foods.

?The problem is we?ve created a society where people don?t have, or don?t take, the time to eat (properly). It?s not what they eat, it?s the fact that they?re inhaling their lunch, or not having lunch at all.?

He said Canadians should have a debate on the ?real causes? of the obesity epidemic, ?rather than pointing fingers and using strategies that increase shame and blame, or simply tax or ban foods.?

Weston was asked Monday if he?ll suggest other anti-obesity policy changes to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

In July, Aglukkaq?s office confirmed to Postmedia News that Health Canada had rejected the advice of its own advisory panel of food experts on trans-fat labelling. The panel had urged the government to start monitoring trans-fats in processed foods and deliver a ?strong signal? to companies that regulations will be considered if trans-fat levels aren?t reduced.

?I?m not expert enough to offer an opinion on that specific thing, but certainly I would encourage Canadians to look at their nutrition,? he told The Vancouver Sun.

?Nutrition is part of the puzzle, and I know this bill will encourage people about the importance of heating healthy foods.?

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Source: http://o.canada.com/2012/09/24/mp-proposes-national-health-and-fitness-day/

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