Poverty & Health

An Overview

Poverty, poor health, and lack of food security often go together. Adults with low incomes are more likely to say they have poor health and more than one chronic health problem such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Young children in food insecure homes are also reported to have poorer health, have more stomach upsets and headaches and make more visits to hospital than do children from food secure families. And some evidence shows that children from food insecure homes tend to have poorer social skills and do less well at school. 

The local picture

Each year the Health Unit carries out a Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) survey of food prices in grocery stores across Simcoe and Muskoka.  Results are used to figure out the local cost of healthy eating and to see how affordable a nutritious diet actually is when local rents and income from social assistance, pensions or minimum wage work are considered. Unfortunately, 2010 results show that many low income individuals and families cannot afford a basic healthy diet.

Solutions

How can we make sure all residents of Simcoe and Muskoka can afford the nutritious foods they need to ensure their health and well-being now and in the future? Although food and budgeting skills are important for everyone, these skills have little impact on narrowing the huge gap that is seen between the income and expenses of local individuals and families with limited incomes.  On the other hand, policy changes that increase income and supports for vulnerable individuals and families can have an immediate and positive impact.

In late 2009 the Ontario government released the details of a poverty reduction strategy after a year or more of consultation with concerned individuals, organizations and groups from right across the province. The long term solution, they have been urging, is for concrete provincial action in key areas including:

• social assistance rates based on the “real” cost of living, indexed to inflation.
• wages and employment supports sufficient to lift people out of poverty.
• access to supportive community services such as public transportation,affordable housing and child care.

The details of the provincial poverty reduction strategy can be seen at www.growingstronger.ca including the policy document "Breaking the Cycle; Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy".

To download your copy of the 2010 Nutritious Food Basket survey report for Simcoe and Muskoka, click on the report title below.  Or you can order copies of the report by phoning Your Health Connection at 721-7520 (1-877-721-7520) Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and asking fora copy of this resource:How Affordable is Healthy Eating in Simcoe Muskoka? Nutritious Food Basket report: 2010 Edition