Author: BK

I am pleased to find out that Canada’s Economic Action Plan (CEAP) also includes an environmental and social purpose, i.e., a healthy environment.

As part of CEAP, the ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative (ecoEII) will “support energy technology innovation to produce and use energy in a more clean and efficient way” by providing $97 million over two years for research, development, and demonstration projects that advance Canadian leadership in clean energy technologies. Those who are interested may submit a Letter of Expression of Interest to address one of five priority areas: Energy Efficiency; Clean Electricity and Renewables; Bioenergy; Electrification of Transportation; and Unconventional Oil and Gas.

I am pleased about this opportunity because it reflects two important principles for society:

• EcoEII provides an opportunity rather than a punishment such as fines. Fines seem to have a place in this imperfect world but are collected after the fact – the deed and damage are already done.
• The ecoEII links economic goals with environmental and social goals, which are all connected. The approach reflects a long-term vision of sustainability rather than a short-term priority of profits. A short-term focus on profits tends to erode the ‘supply chain’ in terms of the human capital and the resources that support production (and thereby profits).

I don’t think ecoEII will be a magic bullet for our economy, environment, and society. But I do believe that it’s a step in the right direction. Every action counts.

The concept of the ‘social determinants of health’ continues to make its way into popular media – it’s on YouTube! On August 5, 2011, thecanadianfacts.org uploaded a video that explains that our health is primarily affected by our living conditions, not medical treatments or lifestyle choices.

This is not the first YouTube video on the social determinants of health. However, the effort continues the commitment to share knowledge with the general public. It is not special knowledge that should be exclusive to public health workers. The reality is that public health workers on their own can’t improve people’s health (nor should public health workers do it on their own).

While the video introduces the social determinants of health, details can be found in the free report The Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts. I won’t go into the facts here, but I will emphasize six actions that anyone (i.e., including public health workers) can take to improve health for all:

• Ask your elected representative in government: what is being done to address these issues?
• Support candidates of political parties that are receptive to the social determinants of health concept.
• Raise these issues with agencies, organizations, and institutions whose mandates include promoting health and preventing illness.
• Ask public health units, disease associations (e.g., Heart and Stroke Foundation, etc.), and health care organizations (e.g., hospitals, professional associations): what is being done to educate Canadians about the social determinants of health and promote public policy action?
• Join and/or support organizations that work to strengthen the social determinants of health.
• Spread the word – share the video, share the report, talk about it with people you know (e.g., family, friends, co-workers, classmates, etc.).

We all want better living conditions and good health. How will you help spread the word and improve health for all?

Health Nexus and 3M Canada are calling for nominations for the 3M Health Leadership Award that “recognizes an outstanding community leader that has had an impact on the health of their community by addressing at least one of the social determinants of health.” This is a great opportunity to recognize inspiring individuals who have done much to improve the health of their community.

Please ensure that you read the Eligibility Criteria before you nominate someone, e.g., the individual is affiliated with an organization that is outside of the formal health care field, etc.

The deadline for nominations is September 15, 2011.

Some people would answer ‘no’ but I hope that ‘doing good’ does become a social movement.

The concept of doing good is not new. In Ancient Greece, Aesop said “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Nor is the idea passé. With the internet and increasing use of social media, people are now able to more easily and widely share their experiences and inspire others to do good as well. People are getting tired of hearing bad news.

In the U.K., Action for Happiness is “a movement of people committed to building a happier society. We want to see a fundamentally different way of life where people care less about what they can get for themselves and more about the happiness of others.” Their comprehensive website blends science and humanity to encourage people to create a happier society for all. Doing things for others is identified as one of 10 keys to happier living.

Yesterday, I learned that our local paper the Vancouver Sun is asking people to let them know about ‘positive stories’ online that they could feature.

This morning, I saw an ad on the side of the bus for People for Good.ca. I was delighted to learn that things were happening here in Canada too. The goal of People for Good is “to make the world a better place, one good deed at a time.” Their website features videos of five Canadians who documented their experiences with doing one good deed per day for seven days, as well as an area where you can submit your own ideas for doing good.

These three examples are only the tip of the iceberg. People do good all the time, sometimes in a systematic or planned manner and sometimes not.

From a population and public health perspective, doing good can help build a sense of community and social capital. At a personal level, while it’s nice to get warm fuzzy feelings by reading about what other people have done, it’s much better do some good yourself and be part of a social movement.

There’s always room in this world for more good.

Like many things in life, there is probably no one, simple answer to this question. But at least people are trying to answer it.

One way is to use regulation to get major chain restaurants to provide calorie information on their menus. New York City did this in 2008. A study on the outcome of the New York regulation showed that 15% of customers in 2009 reported using the calorie information and purchased 106 fewer kilocalories than customers who did not see or use the calorie information (Dumanovsky et al., 2011). Fifteen per cent of customers might seem like a small proportion but it is still sizeable, especially if some of these are repeat customers. For example, three meals a week at the same restaurant could net a 300-calorie reduction. That’s about half an hour of running to burn those calories! The question is how to get as many of the remaining 85% of customers as possible to see or use the calorie information to reduce their calorie intake.

While providing calorie information to customers helps them make personal decisions, another strategy is to actually improve the nutritional content of the food itself. McDonald’s just announced their “Commitments to Offer Improved Nutrition Choices” plan. One of the three goals is to expand and improve nutritionally-balanced menu choices. By 2015, McDonald’s will reduce sodium an average of 15% overall and by 2020 it will “reduce added sugars, saturated fat and calories through varied portion sizes, reformulations and innovations.” Improving the nutritional content of food items puts less onus on the consumer to make a conscious decision. Sometimes, you just want those fries! But at least the fries will soon have less salt. “Soon” is relative though. McDonald’s self-set deadlines are still 4 years and 9 years away. Hopefully, McDonald’s actions will inspire other restaurant chains and even independent restaurants to do the same and in a shorter time frame.

The above two examples are from the U.S. What’s happening in Canada? Here in Vancouver city, there are no regulations. Any calorie information would be provided by restaurants on a voluntary basis (from a business perspective, this could give these restaurants a competitive advantage). The BC provincial government is exploring the idea of menu nutrition labelling for foods served in restaurants and food service establishments. In Ontario, Bill 90 (a private member’s bill to get food establishments to provide calorie information) had its first and, so far, only reading in the Legislative Assembly in June 2010. There is some obvious interest in Canada to follow in the footsteps of New York City. I’m sure there are other examples in Canada that I haven’t heard about.

Restaurants comprise only part of the food industry. There are a lot of processed foods sold in stores. Food manufacturers could also improve the nutritional content of their manufactured food. In the absence of regulation, this would most likely be driven by consumer demand.

What works well to reduce people’s calorie intake remains to be seen. It will most likely be a combination of strategies that aim to change individual behaviour and to change the surrounding environment so that healthier choices don’t necessarily have to be conscious choices.

Reference:

Dumanovsky et al. (2011). Changes in energy content of lunchtime purchases from fast food restaurants after introduction of calorie labelling: Cross sectional customer surveys. BMJ 343:d4464.

Addendum (August 10, 2011)
Update: The BC provincial government is partnering with the BC restaurant industry to introduce the Informed Dining program to provide restaurant customers with the nutrition information they need to make healthier choices.