1. More "cutting-edge" public policy from Canada, the "birthplace" of
health promotion, population health, and the healthy cities concept.
2. Dr. Sheela Basrur, Ontario's Medical Officer of Health  holds a "Masters
in Health Sciences" from the University of Toronto.
Please do not hold this against my former place of employment.

I can personally testify that medical residents are taught the content
that constitutes the bulk of information provided on this listserve. And I
can also testify that Dr. Basrur has attended at least one of my lectures
that discuss the ideological underpinnings and empirical shortcomings of
"lfestyle" approaches to population health.

Please see excerpt at the bottom of this email from Mary Shaw's, The
Accidental Epidemiologist
The full Mary Shaw article is available at:
http://ije.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/31/3/523

HELP!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/06/c0522.html
Attention News/Health Editors:

McGuinty government encourages healthy living in 2005
    Get Active, Get Healthy

    TORONTO, Jan. 6 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is encouraging all
Ontarians, especially young people, to make physical activity and fitness a
key part of their lifestyle in 2005, said Jim Bradley, Minister of Tourism
and
Recreation and Dr. Sheela Basrur, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of
Health.
    "We are encouraging all Ontarians to get active and stay fit. It is
particularly important for young people to become active, because active
children become healthy adults," said Dr. Basrur.
    In her annual report released in December, Dr. Basrur noted several
factors that contribute to an inactive and overweight population:

    -  Many young people do not have the opportunity to be physically
active
       every day and are surrounded by ads promoting soft drinks and snack
       foods
    -  More adults work in sedentary jobs and drive long distances to work
    -  "Super-sized" food portions have become the norm
    -  More communities lack sidewalks, park space, bike lanes and
recreation
       programs.

    In order to get Ontarians of all ages more physically active the
McGuinty
government introduced two new programs last year. ACTIVE2010, launched in
October, aims to increase the physical activity of Ontarians to 55 per cent
by
the year 2010. A major feature of the strategy is the Communities In Action
Fund to help local and not-for-profit organizations provide and enhance
opportunities for physical activity and community sport and recreation. The
"Pause to Play" youth campaign was launched in the fall of 2004 to
encourage
children and youth to make physical activity and sport participation a
regular
part of their daily lives.
    The United Nations has designated 2005 as International Year of Sport
and
Physical Education. The Ministry of Tourism and Recreation is encouraging
regular physical activity to observe this global health and fitness
initiative.
    "The Ministry of Tourism and Recreation is investing $5 million a year
in
ACTIVE2010 to motivate people to get active," said Minister Bradley. "We
will
also help to remove barriers that prevent people from participating in
sport
and physical activity, especially for those who are too often left on the
sidelines, such as low-income families, seniors and people with
disabilities."
    "I call on all levels of government, the health sector, food
industries,
work places, schools, families and individuals to create communities that
promote healthy eating and regular physical activity," said Dr. Basrur.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The accidental epidemiologist: losing the way or following
social-epidemiological leads?
Mary Shaw, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol
Full article at: http://ije.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/31/3/523

...In reality behaviour change is very difficult to achieve—the evidence of
the effectiveness of even the best-crafted mass media campaigns aimed at
reducing smoking, for example, is not strong.1 Similar difficulties are
faced when exercise is the issue. The promotion of physical activity has
been argued to be the best option for public health, at least in terms of
coronary heart disease.2 In England, the majority of people are not
physically active;3 the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 60%
of the world's population is not physically active enough to gain health
benefits.4 Systematic reviews5,6 have found that public health
interventions to increase levels of physical activity often have no overall
effect. At best they result in increased levels of activity in only a small
proportion of the population that are for the most part only maintained in
the short-term. In the mid-1980s WHO identified ‘settings’ (workplaces,
neighbourhoods, schools, etc.) as vehicles for health promotion, yet this
signalled only a minor shift away from individualistic strategies. The
majority of interventions to improve and promote population health continue
to focus on individual behaviour change. Even when we know the effect is
minimal, we still cling to the individualistic model.

Such findings, and failures, surely ought to encourage us to think outside
the box, to look beyond the individual. Most epidemiological studies
contain clues, if not evidence, of the effect of broader-level factors
impacting on health where interventions could be aimed. Yet changing the
errant behaviour of individuals remains a favourite with even those who are
the most well-informed and well-placed to bring about other forms of
change. In 1999 for example, the Chief Medical Officer for England issued
advice on his ‘top ten tips for better health’ (Figure 1). Despite a raft
of reports and policies (www.doh.gov.uk/healthinequalities) which
acknowledge the role of socioeconomic and structural factors in producing
health inequalities, these tips were released without reference to such
broader issues. Responsibility was thus placed firmly upon the
individual...