Clinton News Record, 2015-10-21, Page 3Wednesday, October 21, 2015 • News Record 3
Too much screen time for Huron County children: Health Unit report
Laura Broadley
Clinton News Record
Technology offers opportuni-
ties for learning and advance-
ment but how much of a good
thing is too much?
The Huron County Health
Unit released its Child Health
Status Report 2015 for children
ages zero to 11.
Over 70 per cent of Huron
County preschoolers had at
least double the recommended
screen time, about two or more
hours according to the report,
which was prepared by epidemi-
ologist Erica Clark.
The report explains that
excessive screen time leads to
sedentary behaviour, replacing
healthy physical activity.
Family mealtimes are associ-
ated with increased consump-
tion of vegetables and better
cognitive and behavioural
development, which is inter-
rupted if children are using
screens during that time. Sleep
is also negatively affected the
more TV a child watches,
according to the report.
It's difficult to tell how Huron
County compares to other
regions. Clark said that because
the screen time information
comes from the NutriSTEP®
screen tool used by the county
every November to screen chil-
dren pre -kindergarten, there
isn't data from other health
units.
"It's a screening tool the Min-
istry of Health has asked health
units to begin implementing.
Some health units, like our-
selves, have already been using
it. But there's nowhere I can go
to actually get comparative data
the way I can with some of the
other data sources," said Clark.
In addition to excess screen
time, Huron County children
were found have higher rates of
injury than other children.
Environmental factors lead to
rural children being more likely
to be injured than their counter-
parts living in urban areas.
Falls and being struck by or
against object and the top two
reasons children in the county
are injured, according to the
report.
It comes down to environ-
mental factors, explained Clark.
Rural areas have more green
spaces so there's more opportu-
nities to run around, play and
more situations where an injury
severe enough to require hospi-
talization occurs.
"Children in urban centres
don't have access to all of the
wonderful outdoor spaces that
we have but usage of those out-
door spaces also comes with
some risk," said Clark.
"Motor vehicle collisions are a
big source of hospitalizations
due to injury for children in
Huron County and in other rural
health units," added Clark.
Children in rural areas tend to
spend more time in vehicles
increasing the chances of being
in a car accident.
The rural nature of Huron
County also contributes to the
higher rates of certain types of
infections that cause diarrhea.
Children under 12 are more
likely to come into contact with
farm animals that are common
sources of the bacteria that
cause these infections. Farm
animal manure can also con-
taminate water, which may also
lead to illness, according to the
report.
Low vaccination rates in parts
of the county have led to a
higher rate of pertussis com-
pared to other parts of the
province.
Conclusions from the report
also indicate that Huron County
is heading in a positive direc-
tion. Preschoolers in the county
are meeting recommendations
for grain products, meats and
dairy but one quarter are not
getting the recommended num-
ber of vegetable and fruit
servings.
Over consumption of fast food
and meats are pushing vegeta-
bles and fruits out of the diet,
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the report concludes.
The health unit also reported
that 51 per cent of three -year-olds
exceeded the recommendation to
not consume supplements.
"Canada's Food Guide recom-
mends ensuring children eat a
variety of foods from each food
group rather than relying on
supplements."
The information collected in
the report helps the health unit
and other organizations gear
its program planning. The
report is on a two year update
cycle and Clark said they're
looking for other sources of
information would be useful to
organizations with its program
planning.
The Healthy Kids Community
Challenge, a county initiative, is
informed by this report.
It helps the partners look at
where children are at in terms of
healthy eating, physical activity
and what the goals are in terms
of these statistics, said Clark.
"A lot of this surveillance data
is really all about showing where
we're so we can see where we
want to be and work towards
moving those numbers up or
down depending on what our
goal is," said Clark.
The objectives are to see
improvements over time
through long-term, incremental
changes, Clark added.
The full report can be found at
www.huronhealthunit.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2014/02/
Child-Health-Status-Report-
2015-FINAL.pdf
Aiify
l
ntra I Huron
PUBLIC NOTICE
2016 Municipality of Central Huron Budget
The Council of the Municipality of Central Huron is
commencing the 2016 Budget Deliberations. The first Budget
meeting to discuss the Capital Budget / Multi -Year Capital
Plans scheduled for:
Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
Council Chamber, 23 Albert, Clinton, Ontario
Please check the municipal website for further details and
postings as they become available. www.centralhuron.com
Brenda Maclsaac, Clerk
Municipality of Central Huron
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