A new report is shedding light on the state of children’s health in Canada and found that more and more kids are dealing with mental health concerns.
The study, which was released by Children First Canada and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, examined various health-related issues including mortality rates, poverty and physical health by using data from various sources such as Statistics Canada, The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Health Canada.
“Many Canadians think this is one of the best countries in the world to raise a child, but the statistics prove otherwise,” said Sara Austin, founder and lead director of Children First Canada.
According to numbers out of CIHI, many children in Manitoba are struggling with their mental health, with 1,262 being hospitalized over concerns between 2016 to 2017. This falls in line with what is being seen across the country, as over the last 10 years there’s been a 55 per cent increase in the hospitalization of those aged five to 24 over mental health concerns.
The report notes that suicide is the second leading cause of death for Canadian children and youth within Canada ranked in the top five countries for the highest child suicide rates globally.
Canada’s infant mortality rates are also among the highest of the 36 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). British Columbia has the lowest rate in the country at 3.5 deaths per live 1,000 births and Nunavut has the highest at 17.7.
Manitoba falls at 5.4 deaths per 1,000 births, but over the past decade, on average, it has had some of the highest rates.
In terms of children living in low income households, the 2016 Census numbers show that Manitoba has the third highest out of all the provinces at 21.9 per cent.
But Manitoba is one of the healthiest provinces in relation to childhood obesity. Data from Statistics Canada shows that Manitoba is the fourth healthiest province with 26.8 per cent of kids classified as overweight or obese.
According to a news release, this study serves as a call to action for Canada to invest more in the health of its children.
The report recommends the creation of a national commission for children and youth, the implementation of a children’s budget and fully applying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Canadian Children’s Charter.
“It is both an economic and moral imperative that we act now, and we call on our government, and on all Canadians, to join us. Our collective fate as a nation rests on the wellbeing of our children,” said Austin.
