Our Health, and Future Health Care II

Better health can be tackled through a multi-pronged approach.

Back in April I did a post related to problems in the overall health care system. At the Cameron Inquiry yesterday, Robert Ritter, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, described the strain and stress of overworked medical personnel in all areas of care, besides the current area of focus now, Pathology. He says the pay increase has created anger among the medical association. That's a problem that NLMA are pressuring government to address. If my hearing is normal I think he also mentioned prevention (of illness) in his post inquiry press interview. In the meantime, what can the general publc do to relieve health strain?

As I mentioned in the April post, there are plenty of things we can do, like help prevent health problems that are within our control. We know that exercise helps. Avoiding foods, habits and environments that we know will lead to serious problems is another way. Last fall I was interviewed by Deanne Fleet about health care and the emergency room crisis at the time. Though only a small part of my chat with her was played, I mentioned a few ideas about how society has a role in how well the system runs. One was, why not have general health telethons each year to raise money not just for the Janeway, but for senior's care, or ER for example. How about putting more focus on healthier lifestyles and eating by an aggressive long term campaign of education? Emphasize taking control of our own health destinies.

And to reiterate briefly a few other suggestions regarding how government and health decision makers can affect future health care, there needs to be more stringent regulating of harmful food ingredients. The food industry has so much influence on what gets labeled as healthy. The health check symbol program is a good example. That program is misleading - many foods that are very high in sugars and sodiums are approved for the health check symbol. Let nutrition experts alone, not food industry reps determine Canada's food guide, and nutrition criteria for programs like the health check symbol.

One more, junk food advertising to children under 13 could be banned. That idea was introduced in the Ontario legislature in April. With obesity and type 2 diabetes on the rise in young people, there will be more chronic care required for younger people, unless this situation is analysed, and thoughtful preventative measures are put in place.

Our Health, and Future Health Care

Our health care system healthiness is to a degree approached from a number of angles - government, community groups, fundraisers, individuals, health ads, and in schools. That degree is going to have to increase if we want to sustain and improve health care in this province.

Right now there's not nearly enough nutrition education being communicated to youth and adults. The idea that society needs the best nutrition and health information should be the foundation for people to make the best choices in food and lifestyle.

The Cameron Inquiry into the botched hormone receptor testing is starting to highlight some of the problem areas in our health care system - investment in staff training and reliable equipment. This is everyone's concern, and as baby boomers age, there will be more challenges to an already burdened health system. Challenging yes, and it can improve. Here are some ideas to consider for improving future health care and personal health.

Disseminating more health information via schools, hospitals, public service announcements.

Enforcing policies for the food industry to make nutrition guides more readily available. Last year Marketplace covered this very topic and found that it was difficult to get nutrition information at many restaurants. People were shocked to see how high calorie and sodium levels were in many of the food items.

Industrial companies which have negligent safety practices should be inspected to ensure they strictly adhere to safety guidelines; to make work environments more conducive to employees to wear proper safety apparel like masks where there are toxic fumes, or materials like asbestos. There are companies here in St. John's and probably everywhere else where employee safety is secondary. When many cancers alone are caused by environmental factors, more stringent safety regulations needs enforcing.

Whether it's started in elementary school, or in public service announcements, there needs to be more of an emphasis on taking more personal responsibility for one's health, i.e., seeking out nutrition information, healthier habits, hence, staying away from hospitals and doctors to a greater degree, and therefore, taking some stress away from health workers. Bad habits don't easily change overnight but self-inflicted good health is a goal worthy of a reminder anytime!

It's often said that religion should be kept out of politics. How about keeping business out of real health discussions. Their interests are in profit not some altruistic hope for individual's well being. The closest they come to that is in advertising - their concern is how well it works to make it appear that food products are beneficial to your health.

Much more can be done by the food industry to help. As we have seen, the food industry is in the pocket of influential agencies like Canada's Food Guide, and programs like the Health Check Symbol. They sit on boards that define criteria for determining what is healthy. It's been said here previously that the Heart and Stroke Foundation actually promotes food products that contribute to heart attacks and strokes.

Ban junk food advertising to children under 13. In fact, that is currently being considered in Ontario, after a private member's bill was introduced April 8.

With a few words you can put a positive tone on anything. It's easy, especially when you're talking about the Ooey-gooey and chewy FanTaste-ic Goodness of the Chocolate Chippers, and other "fun" foods. There are people who like to sarcastically joke about the "corporate bogeyman". Well, there are thousands of reasons to be weary of insidious advertisers.

Completely wipe out the use of trans fats. Again, the bottom line of industry is to make profit, which includes cutting expenses, and making a product as cheaply as possible. That's a big reason for using trans fat. It kills people, but it's a cheap way to preserve products for a longer shelf life.

Here's a nice example. The innocence of young girls is used to sell Girl Guide cookies. Who can resist! Unfortunately, 3 of these innocent cookies are laced with 1.5 grams of trans fat. It could have been removed but isn't. And why not? Voortman's can remove all trans fat from their cookies, so ..?

One more suggestion: Hospitals ought to set a better example for healthy eating by not allowing cafeterias to serve stuff like poutine, or allowing junk food giants like Tim Horton's set up in cafeterias.

Many patients are in the hospital because they have had heart attacks, strokes and other coronary problems. Often, they are advised to stay away from salt, not to mention foods high in sugar. Check out the Tim Horton's nutrition guide here. Notice that their sandwiches are very high in sodium. Three (the Turkey Bacon Club, the Deli Trio, and the beloved Ham & Swiss) have sodium levels that are above the daily recommended limit of 1500 mg per day - and that's just one food item, not including the "meal deals" which include donut and beverage.

The St. John's Health Sciences Centre has a Tim Hortons. After hours it's the only place to eat. The irony is obvious, a hospital with a "fun food" vender, and the cycle continues.

A general health care Telethon. The Janeway Telethons have been very successful, and we have a brand new hospital for kids. However, one suggestion is to have a telethon this year and/or the next, for the ER, or for the elderly care, for example.

These are one observer's assessment of current health care and where it needs to go in the future. At the very least more discussion and analysis of societal health practices is a place to begin nursing our overall health and health care system to a better level.

Health Canada Warm & Cozy with Big Food

Yes we are free to eat what we like, eat the very healthiest of food, all, some, or none of the time. So to a large extent, one would think, we can control health, and therefore protect ourselves against many sorts of medical problems associated with diet. Unfortunately, according to this award winning science/tech blog site called Weighty Matters, Health Canada, is looking out for the best interests of Big Food (see Feb. 27 articles). Now that's indigestible.

Health Canada is holding public consultations on whether or not to increase the available claims that Big Food can place on packaging, i.e., what constitutes a "low-fat", "reduced calories", etc. Such labels create health halos around the food.

According to obesity expert, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, Big Food wants Health Canada to make it easier for them to put labels on food which help them sell more of their products, for example, "low-fat" on candy snacks. The intention of food manufacturers of course is to increase sales, and properly worded marketing is worth $ millions. They know that "low-fat" or "reduced calories" will sell more. Researchers like Dr. Brian Wansink of Cornell University showed in three studies show that low-fat labels lead all consumers — particularly those who are overweight — to overeat snack foods.

While it's deliciously healthy, and quite filling for industry execs, it is not at all in the best interest of peoples' health.

Freedhoff is becoming a nationally recognized consultant on nutrition. He has appeared on Market Place on at least two occasions to open the lid on the misleading Health Check symbol (see previous posts here on the Health Check symbol sham).

In two recent blog posts he again exposes Health Canada's conflicting interests. Here's a slice from a Feb. 27 post:

Stay tuned tomorrow when I introduce you to the goings on behind the scenes at the current Happy Corporations (Health Canada) consultations into food labeling where surprise, surprise, the food industry has an invited seat to the table, the process is skewed dramatically in their favour, and with industry of course wanting it be made easier for them to make outlandish health claims on foods (health sells) in the absence of real evidence to support them.

If Health Canada is protecting the food industry's profits, while the very foods that get approved are hurting individual's health, then what authority can the general public rely on for real, and healthy, food nutrition information? Well one answer is, depend on yourself to research and educate yourself about foods, what's in them, and how food ingredients affect your health. Ok, yeah sure, we're all gonna become food researchers and find out about safe foods - just like how we take for granted, what elected representatives and their departments are expected to do.

Really, are millions of Canadians expected to spend countless hours, days, or months researching everything they consume or will consume?

Most people are busy with work, families, activities and living - they want quick information about food, but the more lax government criteria becomes regarding nutritious-sounding "health halos", the more likely people will overeat food that is harmful to them, get sick, and continue feeding the cycle of news-making "health care system problems".

The problems in Canada's health care system has been a constant in the news for decades. There are long waiting lists, staff shortages, lack of equipment like MRI, or CT scan units, and huge mistakes in testing, and emergency room problems. The interest of Health Canada should ONLY be in promoting the best habits of people, which in large part is food and diet related. It's such a misleadingly name department when they make it easy for food companies to get a misleading label on unhealthy food, yet people die by the tens of 1000s each year from consuming these very foods. What a contradictory organization!!

How about the department of health and the department of finance get together, talk about how much health cost expense could be saved if people were getting sick less, were not mislead by food labels, were assisted in their daily health education.

Speaking of education, perhaps education departments would want to get involved and teach some real world evidence-based information on healthy eating. Teach kids about what harmful product ingredients promote sickness, what are the recommended daily intake levels of known suspects like sodium, sugar, fat, white flour, red meat, and processed meats. Inform them of how most modern foods are grown, i.e., pesticides used in growing food. Teach them how to interpret nutrition labels - basically how to make educated food choices.

Hey Health Canada, help cut down on the health care problems by being on peoples' side, and promoting food which is evidence-based healthy. Protect people, not the food industry.

Note: The words in the above cartoon have been modified from the original. The artist is Matt Carmody, and the cartoon was taken from this site.

ObeseCity

St. John's, proudly known as "The oldest city in North America", has a thriving, bursting economy, and lately, is known to have a bursting obesity rate of 36.4%, the highest among Canadian cities.

A University of Alberta researcher found that the rate is related to the proportion of fast-food outlets in the region. The Atlantic region had the highest in comparison to other Canadian regions.

In Quebec city the obesity rate is 17.3% and the # of fast-food outlets per 10,000 residents is 1.97. In St. John's the # of fast-food outlets per 10,000 is 3.54.

There are 100,646 residents in St. John's proper (1/5 of NL's population), and 181,113 (nearly 2/5 of NL's population) residents in the St. John's metro area (City of St. John's).     The following table is from the CTV story


That's a large proportion of people, and, potential health problems related to obesity. This is a concern, most importantly for personal health, but also for the health care system - it's medical staff and infrastructure, and the provinces health care budget.

While this study compared cities, there is no reason to believe that other areas of NL would have better rates.

Various factors are associated with Atlantic Canada's higher rate - socio-economic factors, weather, cost of healthier foods, and quite possibly an inadequate amount of education about the dangers in many foods. It would be an interesting idea to make more room in school curriculums for food and nutrition education, reinforced by healthier food choices in schools. (NL has the highest teenage obesity rate in the country as well)

Food and our body's food processing system is in a way like an engine, or a plumbing system. If you put harmful oils, pollutants, grease, and junk into it, the system can clog, and need to be cleansed (angioplasted, or snaked).

It's not easy to change eating patterns .. boy, it's not easy, but the more we learn about bad foods, and how it can affect our direct health and daily being, the better decisions we can make on what food we want our bodies to process.

This earlier blog post has information that was released a few months back on the relationship between cancer and weight. Another warns of dangerous sodium levels in food, and here is an analysis of Dr. Yoni Freedhoff's exposure of the misleading Health Check symbol.

Food and health education is a big part of individual health, and the health care system. Our province, schools, health and any individual or organization can promote more informed citizens to make healthy choices.

In the first half of the 1900s and before, people in Newfoundland and Labrador, did much more physical work than todays computer age workers. There wasn't much nutritional information going around, but people did eat plenty of organic food, which many grew themselves. Of course, there was lots of fat in meat, or salt meats, but people, perhaps unknowingly, were exercising as they worked, and burned off calories.

The province, and St. John's can help people by encouraging more physical activity. The trail system around the town and Mount Pearl is a great place for walkers, and more can be done.

Ottawa has the Rideau Canal where 1000s of people skate. The city is lucky to have a 7 km canal maintained in the winter for skaters. We have unsupervised ponds but there is a real threat of drownings. A public skating rink would be great for St. John's - a shallow water rink where families can go for general skating.

Unfortunately there are now few areas of the city where such a rink could be placed, as commerce is the first priority it appears. What little practical space is left for such an endeavor should be frozen (pun intended), and assessed to determine how the area could either just simply be flooded in the winter, or an actual open air rink with rink boards, benches, etc., could be constructed.

Winter is difficult for getting around. Sidewalks at the best of winters are hidden beneath tons of snow. It's not possible to keep them cleared constantly like during the last week's four major snowfalls. The city has been doing a fine job of keeping roadways cleared so far. However, better sidewalk clearing than has been witnessed in past years, needs to happen. It would mean safer streets, safe people, and importantly, contribute to lowering risk of obesity.