NEWS: News Release
October 9, 2009
Expanding Opportunity For At-Risk Youth
Jamyrah Dixon (right) and Jaskaran Pabla (left) Grade 8 students at Brookview Middle School, provide Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best, and York West MPP Mario Sergio with helpful tips on preparing healthy after-school snacks. Minister Best was at the school to announce the government’s $10 million province-wide after-school initiative.
NEWS
Students in some of Ontario’s high-needs neighbourhoods will now have the chance to improve their personal health and wellness, while staying off the streets, through the province’s After-School Initiative.
Programs under this initiative will be available at more than 270 sites in priority neighbourhoods across Ontario, benefiting 15,500 children and youth from grades one to 12. These programs include:
- healthy eating and nutrition education to help combat childhood obesity,
- physical activity to encourage active lifestyles,
- personal health and wellness education to promote self-esteem, and
- other activities to address specific priorities based on local community needs.
The programs align with findings of the Review of the Roots of Youth Violence Report, which recommended that after-school programs be available to promote good nutrition and positive activity, and to help keep youth off the streets.
The after-school initiative is also an important part of Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, which aims to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over 5 years — lifting 90,000 kids out of poverty — by boosting benefits for low–income families and enhancing publicly-funded education.
QUOTES
“Ontario’s After-School Initiative will help combat childhood obesity by encouraging young people to be more physically active and eat healthier. The initiative will also help youth develop better skills to become more confident thinkers and doers. This is just one more way the McGuinty government is committed to promoting and protecting the health of Ontario’s young people.”
- Margarett Best, Minister of Health Promotion.
“As part of the McGuinty government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, Ontario’s After-School Initiative will support efforts to break the cycle of poverty and violence. We are giving young people in priority neighbourhoods the tools and supports they need to help them reach their full potential.”
- Laurel Broten, Minister of Children and Youth Services
“Ontario’s After-School Initiative is consistent with Dr. Charles Pascal’s recommendations to provide opportunities for young people to be engaged after school hours in Ontario’s schools. This program will complement the work that we are doing as we move forward to implement our plan for full-day learning for four- and five-year-olds.”
- Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Education
“Twenty-eight percent of Ontario's children are overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. We are very pleased with Ontario’s After-School Initiative as it is an important step towards removing barriers that prevent Ontario’s children, and especially those most at-risk, from being active and healthy.”
– David Sculthorpe, CEO, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario
QUICK FACTS
- The rate of obesity among 12 to 17 year-old Canadian adolescents almost tripled over the past 25 years.
- According to a report funded by the Canadian Council on Learning, by age 15, children are unlikely to learn new activities or develop leisure skills (i.e. music, arts, dance).
LEARN MORE
- Find out more about Ontario’s After-School Initiative and resources for after-school programs.
- Learn about Ontario’s Action Plan For Healthy Eating and Active Living and Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.
- Backgrounder: Ontario’s After-School Initiative
Wendy Vincent, Minister’s Office, 416-326-8497
Julie Rosenberg, Communications, 416-326-4833
