Ontario kids not eating their veggies: report
September 9, 2009
THE CANADIAN PRESS
A new report card from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario says the province's children score an F for their consumption of fruit and vegetables.
It finds that only one in eight children eat five or more servings of fruit and veggies a day, compared to one in five kids who did so according to a survey a decade ago.
The foundation calls it "disappointing."
As well, the percentage of kids reported to be physically active three or more times per week fell to 57 per cent in the new survey compared with 66 per cent in 1998.
The proportion of those eating whole grain bread and cereals rose to almost half from one-third, but consumption of junk food remained about the same.
Overall, the foundation says if the situation doesn't improve, there will be a generation of kids at risk of developing problems such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
"This report should serve as a wake-up call that the health of our children is not making the grade," Dr. Marco Di Buono, director of research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, said in a statement Wednesday.
"Despite mandatory nutrition labelling and a new edition of Canada's Food Guide, we're not seeing bigger gains in healthy eating."
The 2009 survey involved 1,189 Ontario parents of children aged six to 12, and results are considered accurate within 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20 – except for the physical activity category, where the margin of error is five percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The 1998 survey was a national sample of 424 parents of children aged six to 12, with results considered accurate within 4.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
thestar.com
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