For decades, governments have been trying to get people up off the couch and away from their television sets and computer screens.
And for decades, it hasn’t been working.
After a full day of sitting, Canadians continue to transfer their bodies from their work chairs or school chairs to their couches and chairs at home.
They sit and eat the high-fat, high-salt prepared food they have picked up at take-out counters on the way home. Then, exhausted from the long day of sitting and consuming heavy, fatty foods, they spend the rest of the night glued to screens, intending to get outside and run or walk the dog, but somehow never really doing that.
Our lifestyles show in our jean sizes. Obesity rates continue to climb. The clothing sizes keep growing. Currently, 59 per cent of adult Canadians are overweight or obese, according to a Statistics Canada study.
The worst indicator seems to be that children, who a few decades ago were still excited to run and play games outside with friends, now live the same sedentary lifestyles as adults, glued to chairs, sofas or beds and in front of screens, unless their parents are wealthy enough to enroll them in pricey sports activities. The future is here, and for many Canadians, it’s chubby. Almost a third of teenagers had unhealthy weights as of 2007, and the problem continues to grow; by 2040, a projected 70 per cent of the Canadian adult population age 40 or older will be overweight or obese, warns another StatsCan study.
The effects are severe, not only on our productivity, but also on our health-care spending. Budgets are strained due to the need for bariatric beds and treatments for a wide range of diseases either exacerbated or caused by obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, strokes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
We applaud efforts like MP John Weston’s new National Health and Fitness Day that promote awareness, but it’s time to do much more. It’s time for governments to consider rewarding active adults for their efforts by providing tax credits for gym memberships, hockey sticks and hiking shoes that allow us to stay happy, productive and out of hospitals for most of our years.
