Copyright: 2004 Southam Inc.
Contact: letters@nationalpost.com
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Richard Starnes, CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

MANY TEENS OBESE, USE POT, WHO SURVEY FINDS

Fifteen-year-olds Fourth Fattest In 35 Countries

OTTAWA -- A disturbing number of Canadian teenagers are fat, lazy, eat
poorly and smoke too much marijuana, according to a World Health
Organization report.

At first glance, a comprehensive study of more than 150,000 young people
from 35 countries suggests Canada is a nation of physically fit,
computer-literate teenagers in generally good physical and mental health.

But John Freeman, one of the major Canadian contributors to Health
Behaviour in School-aged Children, suggests all is not as it might seem.

Mr. Freeman is part of a team of researchers from Queen's University in
Kingston, who shared in the report, which is conducted every four years and
interviews 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds in Canada, the United States and
nearly all European countries. It covers a comprehensive list of health and
health-related behaviours.

Canada prides itself on its level of physical activity and, with our teens
ranking in the top five countries for physical activity at all age levels,
that pride appears to be legitimate.

Our young people also rank extremely high when it comes to computer use.
They were asked if they used a computer for three hours during the week.
Their answers left 11-year-olds ranked sixth, 13-year-olds third and
15-year-olds second. On the weekends, Canada rose to first place in the two
older categories.

So why, asks Mr. Freeman, are our youngsters among the most obese among the
35 countries?

We sit sixth most obese among 13-year-olds and fourth among 15-year-olds,
where the United States leads the list.

"This is high and seems to represent a strange juxtaposition with the
physical activity figures because we also have adolescents being more
sedentary in terms of the numbers of them using computers three or more
hours a day," he said.

"We are right near the top in that category and mid-range for TV watching.
So, they are more sedentary, more physically active and more obese. What's
happening here?"

The researchers say they believe the physical activity figures may be
skewed because promotion campaigns for active living in Canada encourage
such activities as walking up and down stairs or strolling to the corner store.

"Perhaps our adolescents are reporting activities others are not, which
would raise our ranking," Mr. Freeman said.

"Even if the figures are accurate, however you look at it, we are obese. It
is clear we must increase the level of physical activity and we must change
eating habits."

Mr. Freeman said the report is designed to pinpoint the bad spots and
attack them. He is hopeful governments will use the report to spur change.

"We want to affect health and educational policy. We want them to promote a
more healthy lifestyle for Canadian youth."

Health Canada provided some of the funding for the report. Aggie Adamczyk,
a department spokesperson, said it is particularly interested in the
obesity, tobacco and cannabis figures and would be looking at ways to
address the problems.

WHO identifies tobacco smoking as the leading cause of premature illness
and death in developed countries. It also suggests young people prefer to
focus on the habit as a way to deal with stress and weight control rather
than on the dangers, which they clearly understand.

The survey sheds a comparatively good light on Canadian teens and their
cigarette habits.

At 4.5% for girls and 3.8% for boys, our 13-year-olds are about in the
middle when it comes to smoking every day.

By the time they reach 15, the percentage reaches 11% for girls and 12.8%
for boys. By comparison, Greenland is at the top of the list in every
category surveyed, with their 15-year-olds past 50%.

Health Canada is very interested in the cannabis figures.

The report shows more Canadian 15-year-olds have used marijuana in the past
year than those in any of the other 34 countries. About 37% of girls and
43.3% of boys admitted to using marijuana, more than double the average.