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...