Senators urge new sugar tax, ad ban to combat ‘alarming’ obesity rates

A Senate committee is calling for a national campaign to combat obesity, including a possible new tax on sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened beverages, and a ban on food advertising that targets children. The recommendations are made in a new report on the “alarming obesity rates in Canada,” released Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. Committee chair Kelvin Ogilvie, a Conservative, and deputy chair Art Eggleton, a Liberal, released the report at a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday. In addition to its 21 recommendations, the report made a number of key findings. Since 1980, the number of obese Canadian adults has doubled. Today, two thirds of Canadian adults and 33 per cent of children are either overweight or obese, according to the findings. The report also found that children are spending 38 to 42 hours in front of screens per week. The study found an obesity problem amongst the aboriginal population. According to the findings, 70 per cent of aboriginal adults and 62.5 per cent of aboriginal children under 11 years old are either overweight or obese. Furthermore, aboriginal children are also becoming less engaged in traditional activities such as hunting and more reliant on ready-made food, read the report. The estimated direct and indirect healthcare costs due to the loss of productivity stemming from obesity range from $4.6-billion to $7.1-billion, the committee found. According to the OECD, Canada ranks fifth among countries where obesity is prevalent in adults, behind the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand and Australia. The committee’s report is the result of a study on obesity rates in Canada, conducted from Feb. 2014 to June 2015.