Government of Canada announces healthier weights program in the Yukon and Northwest Territories

WHITEHORSE, YT, Jan. 8, 2015 /CNW/ - Today, Member of Parliament for Yukon, Ryan Leef, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, announced funding for Working Together to Achieve Healthier Lifestyles in Yukon and Northwest Territories Communities, which is one of 11 Innovation Strategy projects aimed at helping families and communities achieve healthier weights.

This Yukon-based project, led by the Arctic Institute of Community-based Research, will promote healthier weights and lifestyles by focusing on active living, healthy eating and literacy through a partnership network in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The project will support local communities to: lead various initiatives such as cooking classes; make improvements to food access, availability, and community gardening; and, identify, implement and evaluate community-based activities aimed at reducing health inequalities and promoting healthy weights.

Quick Facts

• The Innovation Strategy supports programs that promote public health in communities across Canada, and address complex health issues and their underlying causes. The current focus is on projects that promote mental health and healthier weights among children, youth and families in rural, remote, northern and underserved communities.
• Approximately two out of every three adults in Canada are overweight or obese and almost one in three children and youth are already overweight or obese.
• To date, the Government of Canada has invested more than $51 million in the Innovation Strategy.

Quotes

"Communities play a critical role in promoting healthier weights and taking action to address obesity. I applaud the efforts of the Arctic Institute of Community-based Research in promoting healthier lifestyles and reducing health inequalities. In a land as vast as Yukon and Northwest Territories, partnership development is crucial because we all have a role to play."
Ryan Leef
Member of Parliament for Yukon

"We are excited to be working together to achieve healthier lifestyles in Yukon and Northwest Territories, and to be contributing to strengthening and supporting community capacity development in this area for children, youth, and their families in the North. Through collaboration and partnerships, we're aiming to sustain efforts to support healthy living in Northern communities."
Jody Butler Walker
Executive Director
Arctic Institute of Community-based Research

Associated Links

Information about the Innovation Strategy

SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada

Michael Bolkenius, Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Federal Minister of Health, [phone]; Media Relations, Public Health Agency of Canada, [phone]

Related Links

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca