advocacy

OSNPPH Executive, on behalf of its membership, advocates and responds to various issues that lead to advancement of the public health nutrition agenda. Some of the advocacy efforts are in the form of external correspondence. Browse through OSNPPH advocacy letters listed by calendar year.

2013

• March 2013
  • OSNPPH provides an initial response to the release of No Time To Wait: The Healthy Kids Strategy – the report from the Healthy Kids Panel, commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
    
    
    • OSNPPH initial response to Healthy Kids Strategy Report
    
    
    
• February 2013
  • OSNPPH letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in support of Bill c-460. OSNPPH urges the Government of Canada to demonstrate its leadership by implementing a robust and significant strategy to reduce the amount of sodium consumed by Canadians.
    
    
    • We believe Bill C-460, The Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada Act, should be enacted to propel this issue forward.
    
    
    
• January 2013
  • OSNPPH is advocating for increased provincial support for the NutriSTEP® screening program – see our letter to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care:
    
    
    • NutriSTEP letter to MHLTC
    
    
    
  • Also, a call for more support -- OSNPPH encourages individual health units as well as interested organizations to express support for OSNPPH's NutriSTEP® letter and its specific requests. With requests for support for NutriSTEP®, please feel free to use the following "asks" document:
    
    
    • NutriSTEP Support Letter January 2013

2012

• October 2012
  • On October 1, 2012 OSNPPH rescinded its status as a Constituent Society of the Ontario Public Health Association.
    
    
    • Letter to OPHA President Susan Makin
    • OPHA response to OSNPPH
  
  
  
• September 2012
  • OSNPPH was invited to provided recommendations to the Senior Care Strategy, outlines in Ontario's Action Plan for Health Care.
    
    
    • OSNPPH Senior Care Strategy Recommendations
    
    
  • OSNPPH submission to the Healthy Kids Panel calling for the panel to take an upstream approach to curbing childhood overweight in Ontario. On October 5, 2012 OSNPPH had a meeting with Phyllis Tanaka, RD to review our priorities.
    
    
    • OSNPPH list of priorities to Healthy Kids Panel
    • Presentation to Healthy Kids Panel
    
    
  • OSNPPH provided a response to the provincial consultation document Modernizing Child Care in Ontario: Sharing Conversations, Strengthening Partnerships, Working Together
    
    
    • OSNPPH response
    
    
  • The NTS Practice Group launched their new website – www.nutritiontoolsforschools.ca. Nutrition Tools for Schools (NTS) has transitioned from a binder resource to an online community and an interactive, web-based resource for Ontario Schools. School community members can access tips, tools and ideas to create a healthy nutrition environment in their school. Spread the word - visit the website and register to gain access to all the tools and resources. Follow NTS activities on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nutritiontoolsforschools) and Twitter (@NTSOntario)!
  
  
  
• June 2012
  • OSNPPH, through the work of the School Nutrition Workgroup, Secondary School Environments Practice Group provided feedback to the Ontario Ministry of Education, on the draft document "School Food and Beverage Policy Secondary School Teacher Resource Guide".
  
  
  
• May 2012
  • Letter to OPHA outlining OSNPPH's concerns and disappointment that the job posting for Program Manager (including duties of managing the Nutrition Resource Centre) did not require candidates to be a member of the College of Dietitians of Ontario.
    
    
    • Response from OPHA, received July 2012
  
  
  
• April 2012
  • OSNPPH is advocating for the development of an Ontario Food and Nutrition Strategy (OFNS), and has contributed to this as a member of the Ontario Collaborative Group for Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (OCGHEPHA) – a provincial collaboration of not-for-profit, public health and academic organizations dedicated to addressing population-based issues relating to healthy eating, physical activity, healthy weights and the determinants of health, including food access, availability and adequacy. In April 2012, OSNPPH sponsored an Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) resolution calling for the developing of a provincial food and nutrition strategy.
    
    
    • Call for action for the development of an Ontario Food and Nutrition Strategy - OSNPPH sponsored alPHa resolution
      
      
  • OSNPPH sponsored an Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) resolution to recommend that Health Canada and the Province of Ontario prohibit the advertising and sale of energy drinks to children and adolescents
    
    
    • Call for the prohibition of advertising and sale of energy drinks to children and adolescents - OSNPPH sponsored alPHa resolution
      
      
  • OSNPPH, through the work of the Family Health Nutrition Advisory Group provided feedback to Health Canada on the draft document Nutrition for Healthy Term Infants
    
    
    • Letter to NHTI
    • Commented Feedback draft
    
    
• February 2012
  • Letter to OPHA outlining ONSPPH's recommendations for Ontario's Childhood Obesity Strategy
    
    The government of Ontario released Ontario's Action Plan for Health Care. Part of the government's action plan is to reduce childhood obesity by 20% over five years. OSNPPH took the opportunity to share its recommendations on key issues and features of a childhood weight strategy.

2011

• A letter to the Public Health Agency of Canada to support Dietitians of Canada funding proposal titled "Operationalizing New Integrated Competencies for Dietetic Education and Practice related to Public Health Nutrition/Health Promotion, into Curriculum".
  
  
• Letter to Health Canada regarding Proposed Approach to Managing Caffeinated Energy Drinks – November 2011
  
  OSNPPH applauds Health Canada for proposing a comprehensive approach to managing caffeinated energy drinks. We believe that Health Canada’s proposed approach can be further strengthened. A summary of the changes recommended to Health Canada’s proposed approach are detailed below. Further information and rationale with respect to these recommendations are detailed in the body of this report.
  
  
• Letter to Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport regarding support for Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC) - Octomber 2011
  
  A letter to the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport (MHPS) to encourage the continued support of the Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC), and to request that OSNPPH be invited to provide input into NRC’s strategic planning process.
  • Response from MHPS
  
  
• Call to Action on Food Security
  
  Should we be content that some Ontarians are missing-out on a key opportunity for good health – food security?  Does it cause you pause that annual Nutritious Food Basket surveys repeatedly show that many people with low-incomes – both from wages as well as from assistance -- can’t afford healthy eating after meeting other essentials such as housing?  Are you comfortable that prosperity is being side-tracked and food bank use is substantially increasing? 

  To learn more about solutions you could promote, check-out the “Call to Action on Food Security” toolkit, which has been developed jointly by OPHA’s Food Security Workgroup and the Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health.

  • Food Security Cover Sheet
  • Food Security Key Messages
  • Food Security Key Messages Background

2010

• November 2010
  • OSNPPH Letter regarding PHNCAC (PDF) -
    OSNPPH commends the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport, and the Chronic Disease Prevention Managers for recognizing the need to examine issues related to public health nutrition capacity in Ontario. We recognize there are health units across the province where recruitment and retention of public health nutritionists and public health dietitians are problematic. The letter makes several recommendations which include having an OSNPPH representative on the Public Health Nutritionist Capacity Advisory Committee (PHNCAC).

• June 2010
  • OSNPPH Letter to Food Directorate re: caffeine regulations (PDF) -
    On behalf of the Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health (OSNPPH), we are writing to the Food Directorate to express our concerns about the introduction of caffeine and caffeine citrate in non-cola carbonate beverages (i.e., carbonated soft drinks) and to urge labelling regulations, should this change in current caffeine formulation regulations occur.

• May 2010
  • Letter to Minister Aglukkaq regarding leadership in protecting children from commercial marketing at the World Health Assembly and in Canada (PDF) -
    OSNPPH urges the Minister to champion the health and well-being of children in the World Health Assembly talks, and enact strong measures in Canada to protect children from commercial marketing, including the three-quarters of Canadian children living outside of Quebec who do not have the benefit of that province’s Consumer Protection Act.
  • Regarding Caffeine Recommendation in Best Start Resource (PDF) -
    OSNPPH is requesting Best Start consider changing their caffeine during pregnancy recommendation back to 300 mg to align with the current Health Canada (Public Health Agency of Canada) recommendation.

• April 2010
  • Response from Laurel Broten re: Day Nurseries Act letter (PDF) -
    The Ministry acknowledges our letter and concerns and states that Ministry staff will be in touch to discuss our recommendations.
  • Response Letter from Minister Aglukkag re Trans Fat (PDF) -
    The Ministry acknowledges our letter and concerns and states that the "Department recommends that the trans fat content of vegetable oils and soft, spreadable margerines be limited to two percent of the total fat content".

• March 2010
  • Letter to Ministry of Health urging Health Canada to protect Canadians from excessive intakes of vitamins and minerals above the Upper Tolerable Intake Level (UL). (PDF) -
    OSNPPH urges Health Canada to discontinue the current practice of allowing Natural Health Products (NHPs) in conventional food products and to put a halt to the current practice of allowing NHPs into the marketplace before adequate safety assessments have been completed.
  • Letter to Ministry of Children and Youth Services to revise the Nutrition Section in the Day Nurseries Act (PDF) -
    OSNPPH urges the Ministry of Children and Youth Services to revise the Nutrition Section in the Day Nurseries Act (DNA) to reflect the most recent recommendations in Health Canada's Eating Well With Canada's Food Guide.

• February 2010
  • Letter to Minister of Health Canada-Minister Aglukkag Implementation of Trans Fat Regulations (PDF) -
    OSNPPH urges the Ministry of Health to implement the regulation of trans fats in the food supply. Results from the monitoring report show that the voluntary approach has not adequately reduced levels of trans fats in the food supply.

• January 2010
  • Provincial Nutrition Society agrees new School Food and Beverage Policy is a positive step (PDF) -
    OSNPPH and OPHA applaud the release of the School Food and Beverage Policy by the Ministry of Education. The new policy will provide direction for schools when deciding which foods and beverages can be sold to students. To further benefit the nutritional and overall health of Ontario's children and youth, OSNPPH also supports a whole school approach.

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