Prince George is one of the first two communities in British Columbia to take part in an innovated program that targets childhood obesity.
SCOPE, or Sustainable Childhood Obesity Prevention through Community Engagement, is an action-orientated prevention and early intervention project with a three year mandate to help communities take action against childhood obesity by leveraging partnerships with stakeholders such as city councils, schools and the corporate sector.
One in four Canadian children and youth are obese or dangerously overweight, and 50 per cent of these youth will become obese adults.
"Is is shocking that statistics demonstrate today's children are at risk of having a shorter lifespan than any previous generation because of lifestyle choices and the rapidly growing problem of childhood obesity," said Shirley Bond, Prince George-Valemount MLA.
"It is imperative that we provide families with support and resources and the SCOPE program does just that. I am proud that Prince George is one of the only two communities leading this innovative program," she said.
Community based and early intervention are shown to be the most effective approach to reducing childhood obesity, based on experiences of population health experts in Europe and the United States.
SCOPE shows a commitment to community engagement, leading to a better understanding of community-level needs and the adoption of an evidence-based common guideline that clearly spells out how to promote a healthy lifestyle among children.
The guideline, and other resources, are available on the newly launched website www.scopebc.ca. In short, it is recommended that each day a child should have at least five servings of vegetables and fruits, no more than two hours in front of a television or computer screen, at least an hour of active play and no sugar-sweetened drinks.
"SCOPE is a great example of how we can engage communities to look at new ways to support their citizens in making healthy lifestyle choices," said Pat Bell, Prince George-Mackenzie MLA.
"The new website complements our existing health prevention strategies and will help to address unique, community specific factors that cause childhood obesity," he said.
SCOPE is an initiative under the leadership of Child Health BC, which links the province's health authorities with BC Children's Hospital.
