Increasing awareness to prevent injury among children and youth
VANCOUVER, Aug. 29, 2012 /CNW/ - Dr. Colin Carrie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, today announced on behalf of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, support for two projects to increase awareness and prevent injury in sports and recreation activities among children and youth.
"Today's investments will increase opportunities for children and youth to participate in sports and recreational activities that are safe, fun, fair and healthy," said Parliamentary Secretary Carrie.
The first project, Sport Safety and Injury Prevention in Community Sport, will increase injury prevention knowledge among sport and recreational leaders of children and youth ages 5 to 19 who are involved in community soccer programs through the development of information, resources and tools.
"Parents and coaches play an important role in helping children and youth learn ways to stay safe from injury," said Lynda Cannell, President and CEO of SportMedBC. "With soccer being one of the highest participation sports in British Columbia, this project is well positioned to reduce the risk of injury among young players."
The second project, You're Probably Not Expecting to Need a Helmet Today, will develop an awareness campaign to reduce the number and severity of injuries sustained by youth aged 13 to 19 by promoting helmet use in individual sports and recreational activities where helmet compliance is low.
"Young Canadians who participate in sporting and recreational activities don't always wear a helmet," said Dr. Ian Pike, Co-Executive Director of Preventable. "This project engages youth to help their peers understand the benefits of wearing a helmet whenever they cycle, mountain bike, skateboard, ski or snowboard."
Through the Public Health Agency of Canada's Active and Safe initiative, the federal government supports a number of projects that focus on preventing injuries among children and youth by reaching Canadians in the communities where they live and play. Active and Safe encourages community level action to increase sport and recreation safety awareness.
Également disponible en français
FACT SHEET
August 2012
Funding to Support Active and Safe Participation in Sports and Recreation
Unintentional Injuries among Children and Youth in Canada
Sports and recreation related injuries make up a significant proportion of unintentional injuries for children and youth up to age 19. In fact, 40% of child and youth injuries treated in Canadian emergency departments are sports and recreation related. While the Government of Canada encourages Canada's children and youth to become more active and live healthy lifestyles, it is also important to ensure their safety while being active.
Through the Public Health Agency of Canada's Active and Safe injury prevention initiative, the Government of Canada is investing $5 million over two years to support a number of community-based projects that empower Canadians to make safe choices when they get involved in sports and recreational activities. Today's announcement of over $196,000 will support two projects to increase injury prevention knowledge among parents and volunteer coaches involved in youth soccer and promote helmet use among youth.
Active and Safe Participation in Sport and Recreation
Two projects are being announced - Sport Safety and Injury Prevention in Community Sport and You're Probably Not Expecting to Need a Helmet Today.
Sport Safety and Injury Prevention in Community Sport will be led by The Sports Medicine Council of British Columbia (SportMedBC) and will partner with BC Soccer, the Aboriginal Physical Activity and Recreation Partners Council, the Coaches Association of BC, the network of national and regional sport centres and various media outlets.
The project will:
You're Probably Not Expecting to Need a Helmet Today will be led by The Community Against Preventable Injuries (Preventable) and will partner with organizations such as Parachute Leaders in Injury Prevention.
The project will:
Image with caption: "Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, Colin Carrie, rides a bicycle while taking part in the Pedalheads.ca training program in Vancouver on August 29, 2012. (CNW Group/PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120829_C2404_PHOTO_EN_17360.jpg
SOURCE: PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA
Health Canada
Cailin Rodgers
Office of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq
Federal Minister of Health
(613) 957-0200
Media Relations
Public Health Agency of Canada
(613) 941-8189
A wide array of domestic and global news stories; news topics include politics/government, business, technology, religion, sports/entertainment, science/nature, and health/lifestyle....
Also from this source
Also from this source
Share this article