Pubdate: Sat, 05 Jun 2004 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2004 Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Author: Richard Starnes, CanWest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) MANY TEENS OBESE, USE POT, WHO SURVEY FINDS Fifteen-year-olds Fourth Fattest In 35 Countries OTTAWA -- A disturbing number of Canadian teenagers are fat, lazy, eat poorly and smoke too much marijuana, according to a World Health Organization report. At first glance, a comprehensive study of more than 150,000 young people from 35 countries suggests Canada is a nation of physically fit, computer-literate teenagers in generally good physical and mental health. But John Freeman, one of the major Canadian contributors to Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, suggests all is not as it might seem. Mr. Freeman is part of a team of researchers from Queen's University in Kingston, who shared in the report, which is conducted every four years and interviews 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds in Canada, the United States and nearly all European countries. It covers a comprehensive list of health and health-related behaviours. Canada prides itself on its level of physical activity and, with our teens ranking in the top five countries for physical activity at all age levels, that pride appears to be legitimate. Our young people also rank extremely high when it comes to computer use. They were asked if they used a computer for three hours during the week. Their answers left 11-year-olds ranked sixth, 13-year-olds third and 15-year-olds second. On the weekends, Canada rose to first place in the two older categories. So why, asks Mr. Freeman, are our youngsters among the most obese among the 35 countries? We sit sixth most obese among 13-year-olds and fourth among 15-year-olds, where the United States leads the list. "This is high and seems to represent a strange juxtaposition with the physical activity figures because we also have adolescents being more sedentary in terms of the numbers of them using computers three or more hours a day," he said. "We are right near the top in that category and mid-range for TV watching. So, they are more sedentary, more physically active and more obese. What's happening here?" The researchers say they believe the physical activity figures may be skewed because promotion campaigns for active living in Canada encourage such activities as walking up and down stairs or strolling to the corner store. "Perhaps our adolescents are reporting activities others are not, which would raise our ranking," Mr. Freeman said. "Even if the figures are accurate, however you look at it, we are obese. It is clear we must increase the level of physical activity and we must change eating habits." Mr. Freeman said the report is designed to pinpoint the bad spots and attack them. He is hopeful governments will use the report to spur change. "We want to affect health and educational policy. We want them to promote a more healthy lifestyle for Canadian youth." Health Canada provided some of the funding for the report. Aggie Adamczyk, a department spokesperson, said it is particularly interested in the obesity, tobacco and cannabis figures and would be looking at ways to address the problems. WHO identifies tobacco smoking as the leading cause of premature illness and death in developed countries. It also suggests young people prefer to focus on the habit as a way to deal with stress and weight control rather than on the dangers, which they clearly understand. The survey sheds a comparatively good light on Canadian teens and their cigarette habits. At 4.5% for girls and 3.8% for boys, our 13-year-olds are about in the middle when it comes to smoking every day. By the time they reach 15, the percentage reaches 11% for girls and 12.8% for boys. By comparison, Greenland is at the top of the list in every category surveyed, with their 15-year-olds past 50%. Health Canada is very interested in the cannabis figures. The report shows more Canadian 15-year-olds have used marijuana in the past year than those in any of the other 34 countries. About 37% of girls and 43.3% of boys admitted to using marijuana, more than double the average. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl