Thursday, May 03, 2012
Ottawa Public Health recommends a new strategy for healthy eating and active living
Ottawa – Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is recommending a three-year Healthy Eating, Active Living strategy in order to help residents make healthier choices about food and physical activity. The strategy is supported by community and municipal partners, and addresses issues raised in OPH’s Healthy Eating, Active Living and Healthy Weights report.
“Our goal is that the next generation of Ottawa residents will have more walkable neighbourhoods, and easier access to nutritious and lower calorie meals. The environments in which we live, work and play should support us in making healthier choices,” said Dr. Isra Levy, Medical Officer of Health. “There are no quick fixes. A long-term, sustained effort by the community is required so that we, as a community, will find it easier to eat nutritious foods in quantities that are healthy and that we will find it easier to be more active every day.”
With community and municipal partners, the strategy aims to make tangible differences. In the short-term, OPH will focus on:
- Reducing consumption of foods that lack nutritional value and are high in calories, and increasing access to healthier foods;
- Increasing physical activity and active transportation; and
- Dispelling myths and biases around obesity and focussing more on healthy behaviours and improving social and physical environments.
Data from the OPH report indicate that the issues of obesity and inadequate levels of physical activity continue to be growing health concerns. In Ottawa, over 20 per cent of youth and more than half of adults are either overweight or obese. The reasons are varied, but overall, people consume too many calories and in general, people are not active enough to maintain good health.
Increasing access to nutritious food, nutrition skills, active transportation and physical activity remain strategic priorities of OPH and the Ottawa Board of Health.
The Board of Health will discuss the strategy and report at its meeting on May 7, 2012 at 6 p.m. in the Champlain Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West.
For more information on the Healthy Eating, Active Living Strategy or the Healthy Eating, Active Living and Healthy Weights in Ottawa, 2012 report, visit ottawa.ca/health or call Ottawa Public Health Information at 613-580-6744 (TTY: 613-580-9656). You can also connect with OPH on Facebook and Twitter (@ottawahealth) for the latest public health information.
|