CAPHC 2007 Annual Meeting
Childhood Obesity: Do We Have the Right Perspective?

Concurrent Session Presentations

Diane Finegood, Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Nutrition Metabolism and Diabetes, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia
» View presentation
Marie Lambert, full professor, Faculty of Medicine — Pediatrics, University of Montreal, Research Centre of the CHU Sainte-Justine
» View presentation
Mark Tremblay, Director, Healthy Living and Obesity Research, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario
» View presentation

Symposium Proceedings

The goal of this national symposium was to bring forward inter-professional perspectives and evidence to explore current prevention and treatment strategies in the childhood obesity epidemic in Canada.

The symposium explored:

• Obesity – a chronic and irreversible disease?
• Risk management;
• What is making a difference?
• What are we missing?
• How can we be part of the solution?

The symposium was made possible through the support and partnership of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

» Proceedings

Practicing What We Preach: A Look at Healthy Active Living Policy and Practice in Canadian Paediatric Hospitals

Introduction/Background

• The Canadian Pediatric Society’s committee on Healthy Active Living (HAL) and the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centers (CAPHC) conducted a Survey of Healthy Active Living Policies in all Canadian pediatric hospitals.
• This survey was an initiative based on the recommendations made at the 2005 CAPHC Annual meeting symposium entitled: “The Pediatric Obesity Crisis: Working Together for Change” - http://www.caphc.org/annual_2005_presentations.php
• Subsequently, CPS and CAPHC have made a commitment to work with other experts and partner organizations to address the childhood obesity crisis in Canada. CPS continues to see childhood obesity as a top priority and as such is looking forward to this collaborative endeavor.

Goals and Objectives

• To obtain an overview of healthy active living (HAL) policy & practice in Canadian Pediatric Hospitals.

Milestones to Date

• A nation-wide survey was conducted between November 2006 and May 2007 to identify healthy eating, physical activity, & smoking cessation practices in all 16 Canadian Pediatric Academic Hospitals.
• No formal hypothesis testing will be performed as data are intended to be exploratory

Going Forward

• Our goal is to enhance existing HAL hospital policies and possibly create new ones that will promote healthy lifestyles for patients, families and staff.
• The outcome of this survey was presented at both CAPHC and CPS annual meetings in 2007.
  » Practicing What we Preach: A look at Healthy Active Living Policy and Practice in Canadian Pediatric Hospitals

Partnerships

• All sixteen Children’s Hospitals in Canada
• CPS
• CAPHC

Addressing Childhood Obesity: The Evidence for Action
Partnership Initiative with the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) - Institute of Nutrition Metabolism and Diabetes, and the Paediatric Chairs of Canada (PCC)
March 15, 2004

Current prevalence estimates indicate that approximately 15% of Canadian children may meet CDC criteria for “overweight”, and that another 30-40% may be “at risk for overweight”. This high and rapidly increasing prevalence will significantly impact the health of Canadians over the course of the next century. While action to stabilize and reverse this trend is urgently required, such action must be based on the best available evidence to ensure optimal outcomes and cost-effectiveness. This report reviews existing high-quality evidence for interventions to prevent and treat childhood obesity. Interventions supported by high-quality evidence are presented as recommendations for action. Where evidence is lacking or conflicting, recommendations for research priorities highlight information urgently required to direct future interventions.

» Executive Summary
» Full Report (English)
» Full Report (French)