Environmental scans to support cancer prevention

New data on food, physical activity, alcohol and public education

The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (the Partnership) has undertaken several environmental scans to better understand the cancer prevention program and policy landscape in Canada.

The first of these reports examined the influence of policy and legislation governing food, physical activity, alcohol, and public education from 1997-2007. A second report building on this first environmental scan looked at tobacco, UV exposure, and infectious agents policy and legislation over the past decade.

Both reports showcase the opportunities and challenges associated with the policy process in Canada; as well as trends in the development and implementation of new legal instruments that can be used to improve cancer prevention strategies.

Specifically, the reports provide a brief synopsis of the state of evidence for each of the above modifiable risk factors; as well as a snapshot of existing policies and legislation at the school, municipal, provincial/territorial and federal levels.

Policy is an important tool for promoting the health of individuals and communities. It can guide strategies to take action on risk factors such as obesity, for example. Information for this report was gathered from database searches and interviews with experts. The final product will support Canadian policy research (for example, by serving as a starting point for tracking the development of policy initiatives), which is critical to cancer prevention.

The data gathered during the scans is being transferred into a national health policy database available on Cancer View Canada. Some results from this scan reveal:

• a number of areas where growing consensus and political will is beginning to result in policy-based responses. These include: increases in tax incentives to encourage physical activity by young people, comprehensive smoke-free places legislation, growing interest in policy options banning or restricting unhealthy food products in schools, daily physical activity requirements, restrictions on the sale of alcohol in licensed premises to curb binge drinking, and the increase in active transportation policies at the municipal level.

• an acknowledgement of the need to move beyond risk-factor specific responses through policy development in the context of more comprehensive frameworks. This is evident from the increased adoption of health promotion and wellness strategies at the provincial/territorial level over the past decade.

Collectively, these findings suggest a growing desire and dedication among Canadian decision makers to take action on the risk conditions contributing to poor health outcomes.

The remaining environmental scan will focus on:

• "toxic use reduction" – or preventing exposures to cancer-causing agents – with an analysis of laws in this area and community-based non-government programs that address this issue

Related reports will be posted on Cancer View Canada as they become available.