Chandler, Age 8, Smithers
2nd Session, 38th Parliament – November 29, 2006
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Chandler, Age 8, Smithers
Higher incidences of major health problems arising from child overweight and obesity is hardly unique to the First Nations communities. One can observe similar tendencies with other B.C. cultural communities.
For example, the publisher of the bilingual newspaper Punjabi Patrika, Andy Sidhu, recently observed that: “It is amazing how many of us are diabetics.” 29 This observation is supported by research that indicates that South Asian immigrants are more susceptible to diabetes due to diet and a more sedentary lifestyle.30
Dr. Gary Randhawa of the Kelowna Medical Society previously provided testimony to a parliamentary committee on the incidence of diabetes in the Indo-Canadian community. Dr. Randhawa identified cultural and language barriers as two of the principal obstacles that are currently impeding the ability of the provincial health system to reach out to these populations.
The issue of how to approach distinct cultural communities is a difficult one, and has been raised before other parliamentary committees. Suggestions range from placing fitness equipment in religious temples to providing health guides in additional languages. At that time, Dr. Randhawa offered the following insight:
There are cultural issues (related to the delivery of health care) … There are certain areas, whether it’s the South Asian community or the Italian community, where we have found that (providing information on) chronic disease managements in temples and other areas where these groups feel more comfortable, they certainly make use of it … We have to invest money in (preventative health care) where ethnic communities can understand in their own language, in their own context, in their own cultural area, that these services provided by government are important, that these things are available. 31
Witnesses appearing before this Committee also expressed their concern with regards to reaching out to B.C.’s cultural communities. Dr. Warshawski of the Childhood Obesity Foundation provided the Committee with the following information:
Once (this) was commonly known as adult-onset diabetes. Now for the first time in some places in the States, they’re actually seeing more Type 2 diabetes in children than they are seeing Type 1 diabetes. In British Columbia we’re also very concerned because Type 2 diabetes with obesity tends to have a predilection amongst Asian-Pacific and aboriginals. We have a large Chinese and Indo-Canadian population here in British Columbia as well as a large aboriginal population. From previous speakers you’ve heard about the high incidence of obesity in that group. This is going to be very, very costly. (Warshawski, 2006)
Similarly, a representative from the B.C. Healthy Living Alliance provided the following testimony to the Committee:
There is some evidence to indicate that, unfortunately, new-immigrant populations tend to adopt our western ways more aggressively than is likely in their best interests — for example, more likely to choose the unhealthy food choices that they associate with western society. We really do need to focus, when we’re dealing with new immigrant populations, for example, on ensuring that healthy food choices are promoted just as much, or more, as the unhealthy food choices that tend to be associated with the western style of eating.
The Committee recommends that:
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© 2006 Legislative Assembly of British Columbia