Editorial: Saskatchewan needs to tackle obesity

The high rate of obesity in the province should be a topic of conversation and of action.

Saskatchewan has recognized its shameful record on drinking and driving, and steps have been taken — both by government and out in the community — to improve the situation.

The next frontier for us to tackle is more the food — not the drink. The high rate of obesity in the province should be a topic of conversation and of action.

One in three people in Saskatchewan is considered obese, according to government statistics.

We do not need to look far to find a cautionary tale on the subject. In the U.S., Otis Brawley, a Johns Hopkins oncologist and former chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, told the Washington Post that obesity could overtake smoking as the leading cause of cancer in the next five to 10 years. He said cancer death rates have been in decline since the early 1990s, but increasingly unhealthy weights among Americans jeopardize this progress.

The Canadian Cancer Society is also drawing attention to the issue, pointing out that obesity can be a contributing factor to at least 13 forms of the disease. The organization says if more Canadians had a healthy body weight, a startling 110,600 cases of cancer could be prevented by 2042.

As we have discovered with drinking and driving, finding solutions to a complex issue like obesity rates will take more than shaming people and admonishments to move more and eat less. A societal shift takes efforts on a number of fronts. The government, however, can lead these efforts.

On the national level, the CCS suggests the introduction of front-of-package labelling, restricting marketing to kids and introducing a manufacturers’ levy on sugary drinks. The provincial government also has a role in improving programs for childhood obesity prevention, making sure there is ready access to obesity treatment and creating educational campaigns.

Citizens of Saskatchewan have changed how they see the practice of drinking and driving. Government efforts helped, but grassroots change was needed as well. Over time, we hope that a similar shift can happen in how we see diet and exercise as a necessity, and that children will grow up with a new mindset.

More focus needs to be centred on this issue before that change can take place.