March 30, 2009
While many people watched their wallets get thinner in the Miramichi over the last few years, their bodies didn't follow suit.
The Miramichi has one of the highest obesity rates in the country and on Saturday the Miramichi Wellness Committee held a conference at the Douglastown Community Centre to help reduce the high levels of obesity in the region.
Committee chair Suzanne Watters said they are working toward a five year strategy that targets obesity through active living and healthy eating.
"Since we have the second highest obesity level in Canada we decided that's where we would start."
Almost 120 people registered for the conference where participants discussed issues surrounding the health of people in the Miramichi.
With a population of about 51,000 people in the region, 42.4 per cent are overweight and 27 per cent are considered obese.
Miramichi Wellness coordinator Debbie Churchill said that means over 30,000 people in the region are overweight or obese.
"Which is kind of a staggering figure when you put it down to people."
Miramichi-Bay du Vin MLA Bill Fraser attended the event and said it was a good step toward turning around the obesity problem.
"It is a crisis right across the province."
Fraser is an example of someone trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle and has lost close to 40 pounds since he started making healthier choices.
He said it was good to see so many people interested in addressing the issue and they want to make a change.
"I think people recognize that we do have a problem."
Jake McLaughlin is one of the wellness committee organizers and said they chose to focus on obesity and healthy lifestyles because they affect so many aspects of overall health.
"It embraces all the other determinations of health."
The coordinators broke the day up into different sessions with groups at tables spread out around the community centre's hall discussing the issues before presenting their thoughts to everyone in attendance.
Some of the issues discussed included looking at what already exists to help the community get healthy, the barriers that keep people from staying healthy and what people can do to improve their participation in healthy lifestyle choices.
Watters said one of the groups they want to target is youth, but they seemed to be missing from the conference.
"That's a major element that we don't want to miss."
Fraser also noticed the lack of youth at the centre and said people need to set a good example for them so they will develop healthy lifestyles.
"It all has to start at the top."
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