Reducing child poverty urged as health priority

from The Toronto Star

by Joanna Smith

Ottawa–Reducing child poverty will benefit the health of all Canadians, the country's chief public health officer recommended in his first annual report on the physical and mental well-being of the population.

"Every dollar spent in ensuring a healthy start in the early years will reduce the long-term costs associated with health care, addictions, crime, unemployment and welfare," Dr. David Butler-Jones wrote in his report on the state of public health in Canada.

Tabled on Wednesday by Conservative MP Steven Fletcher, parliamentary secretary for health, the report highlights the role economic, social and environmental factors play in physical and mental health.

"While some health challenges can be related to our genetic makeup, evidence shows that Canadians with adequate shelter, a safe and secure food supply, access to education, employment and sufficient income for basic needs, adopt healthier behaviours and have better health," Butler-Jones wrote in the introduction.

"I would argue that a society is only as healthy as the least healthy among us."

Reducing child poverty was one of his major recommendations for moving forward.

He said that to tackle child poverty, Canada should examine: income-redistribution policies; healthy early learning and childhood development and other levels of education; targeted interventions to support children in low-income families and "collective contributions" to alleviate child poverty.

The report also suggested adopting programs "with proven success in reducing child poverty rates."

It highlighted Pathways to Education – a support program for at-risk and disadvantaged youth in the Regent Park area of Toronto that reduced school dropout rates from 56 per cent to 10 per cent in that neighbourhood – as a program that should be adopted nationwide.

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