Task Force Submission by Winnipeg Harvest Carol Ellerbeck, Executive Coordinator

POVERTY IS A BARRIER TO GOOD HEALTH IN CHILDREN

Numerous studies have established that socio-economic position is a key determinant of health.

Evidence suggests experiences from conception to age six are the most important influence of any time in the life cycle, effecting brain development, school readiness and health in later life.  

In Manitoba, 53,000 children currently live in poverty.  Since 1989, Manitoba consistently ranks among the top three provinces in terms of children living in poverty.

The number of children requiring emergency food from Winnipeg Harvest has more than tripled in ten years (1995 to 2004).  Today, 17, 256 children per month receive food from Winnipeg Harvest.  Ten years ago that number stood at 5,512.

Winnipeg Harvest also provides daily snacks and meals to 29 Winnipeg day care centers;  48 community centers and 27 schools.  At least a dozen more are on our waiting list.

Many low-income people do not have enough food to eat or enough nutritious food.  Those who live with food insecurity tend to be dependent on social assistance in single parent families headed by women (50.9%) One in ten people (10.2%) who require emergency food from Winnipeg Harvest are employed but earn insufficient income to meet basic needs.  Eating more vegetables and fruits is associated with healthy weights, weight loss and better weight management, and with the prevention of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.

Some children are more at risk based on gender, race, ethnicity, culture and identity.  In Manitoba, nearly half of off-reserve Aboriginal children (49.7%) are living in poverty and more than half (51.2%) of children who recently immigrated here live in poverty. Children with a disability and those from visible minorities are also affected by poverty (32.1%) and 26.6%) respectively.

Children who live in poverty can be affected in a number of detrimental ways:  lack of stimulation and socialization, nutritional deficiencies, higher incidence of injuries, burns and poisonings.  Consider the following: babies born to low-income parents are almost twice as likely to be born with a low birth weight; the poorest 20% of children are twice as likely to die in a fire or of homicide that other children; 60 to 90% of children from low-income families may suffer with early childhood tooth decay compared to 5 to 10% of children generally in North America.

The situation is especially challenging in Manitoba’s north.  For example, our 2003 Acceptable Living Level report analysis showed four litres of milk that cost $3.40 cents in Winnipeg cost $12.09 in Wasagamack.  

Between 1981 and 1996, the number of obese children in Canada aged seven to 13 tripled.  This is contributing to a dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and some cancers.

Winnipeg’s Aboriginal population is especially vulnerable to diabetes, with a prevalence rate four times higher than for all other Manitobans (18.9% versus 4.5% respectively.)

In Winnipeg in 1998, there were 29,885 cases of type 2 diabetes or 47.3 cases per 1,000 population.

A 2003 geographical analysis of type 2 diabetes prevalence in Winnipeg observed that the highest risk cluster of diabetes is located in the central and northern core of the city.  The geographic areas with the highest prevalence of diabetes also had the lowest socio-economic status, the poorest lifestyles and the lowest levels of environmental quality.  Broad neighbourhood characteristics such as education and income were more predictive of diabetes than aboriginal status.  The study suggests that high rates of diabetes are tightly embedded within a context of poverty and disempowerment, and successful intervention programs must address socioeconomic resources and opportunities available to individuals. 

One of the factors leading to obesity is that people do not have enough income to make healthy food choices.  Research also shows skipping breakfast is associated with overweight and obesity because it may lead to overeating later in the day. Nutrition studies link parents eating habits, control and role modeling with children’s eating habits.  When families use high fat or high sugar foods as rewards, children tend to prefer those foods. 

We also know that Canadians with low literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed and poor, to suffer poorer health and to die earlier than Canadians with high levels of literacy.  Children in low literacy homes are less likely to read and perform well in school.

Poor children live in poor families with fewer opportunities and choices.  There are real health costs associated with poverty.  For instance, The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy has determined that 15% of total expenditures on hospitals and physicians could have been avoided if residents of the less wealthy 80% of neighbourhoods enjoyed health similar to those in our wealthiest neighbourhoods.  That would amount to $62 million.  There are significant savings even in bringing residents of poor neighbourhoods up to the level of residents in middle-class neighbourhoods: $28.8 million.

Poverty as a serious health concern must be addressed.  As Manitobans we must be prepared to tackle our child poverty crisis if we are to reduce the serious health disparities between have and have-not children.

Nations that have significantly reduced child and family poverty have done so by investing in widely accessible early learning and childcare programs, effective child benefit systems, affordable housing programs and generous income security and unemployment benefits.

Because social and environmental factors have such a strong influence on overall health, a coordinated, sustained, multi-sectoral response is needed.

THE MANITOBA GOVERNMENT CAN:

• Adopt a zero-tolerance policy on hunger and recognize food security as a basic human right.

• Immediately eliminate the $2.40 daily childcare surcharge that poor families find so difficult.
• Increase the amount given to low-income Manitobans to cover actual accommodation costs (thereby freeing up more money for healthier food.)
• Develop 1,000 affordable and low-income housing units in Manitoba annually.
• Raise the minimum wage to reflect the real living wage required by people to feed themselves and their families. 
• Immediately subsidize the cost of milk for northern Manitoba communities.
• Provide free literacy and skills training to low-income Manitobans. 
• Commit to developing a comprehensive Food Security policy and action plan in collaboration with the broader community. 

The solutions to reduce hunger and poverty are well known and documented.  What has been lacking is the political will to tackle poverty in a systematic, sustained way. 

Winnipeg Harvest is ready, willing and able to work with the Manitoba government and other community partners to develop an action plan aimed at improving the living conditions and health of all Manitoba children.

 
Sources:  2004 Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Report, November 24, 2004; Winnipeg Harvest records; Social Planning Council of Winnipeg Manitoba Child Poverty Report Card 2004; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, University of Manitoba; Manitoba Health; National Council on Welfare; Canadian Council on Social Development; Second Report on the Health of Children; UN Special Session on Children Report; Campaign 2000; Public Health Agency of Canada; Community Health Assessment Report 2004, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; Geographical analysis of diabetes prevalence in an urban area, Social Science & Medicine.