The Ontario government has created a panel to make recommendations on how to cut child obesity by 20 percent, a goal set by the Ministry of Health to be met over the next five years.
The panel, dubbed the Healthy Kids Panel, is co-chaired by Alex Munter, CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and Kelly Murumets, CEO of ParticipACTION.
“Childhood obesity is a global epidemic,” Murumets said.
In Canada, obesity among children between 2 and 17 rose from 15 percent in 1979 to 26 percent in 2004; in Ontario, over a quarter of children are obese or overweight.
