16. Obesity Surveillance: An Investigation of Health Policy and Programs in Ontario

Abstract

Today, childhood obesity is one of the most important challenges our society faces. The objective of this research project is to contribute to ongoing academic discussions of how to address issues of childhood obesity. To accomplish this goal, this project investigates the historical development of policies and educational programs regarding childhood obesity issued by the government of Ontario and Halton District School Board. In particular, this project explores the following questions: 1) Is there evidence of childhood obesity in Ontario and/or the Halton region? 2) What educational programs, policies, or action plans has the Ontario government and Halton District School Board established to target childhood obesity? 3) Are existing policies, educational programs, and action plans of health promotion considering children as a vulnerable population thereby maintaining a safe environment for children? Specifically, this project speaks to policy makers and educators by examining the risks and social impacts of policies and programs. For example past surveillance techniques created to collect statistics of childhood obesity, develop policies, and evaluate educational programs have been criticized for scrutinizing persons through a process of monitoring, analyzing, and comparing (Rich 2010) as well as breaching persons’ rights to privacy (Haggerty and Ericson 2000). Overall this project will contribute to ongoing academic discussions regarding how best to address childhood obesity because evidence drawn from past policies, educational programs and action plans can be used to develop more effective means of impacting childhood obesity while also being mindful of the potential risks of surveillance based educational programs.