The West Vancouver Health Forum puts fitness front and center

A pioneering health forum hosted by the Canadian Institute of Health and Fitness wraps up today with a presentation titled Getting Youth Active in a Digital World from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Sentinel Secondary theater in West Vancouver.

The session complements a series of events which included Walk with your Doc and How Active Living Reduces Acute Care and Chronic Illness held at Park Royal on Saturday. Distinguished health and wellness professionals, celebrity athletes and musical performers gathered for the event, including the Honorable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Physical Activity; Olympic gold medalist Madison Mailey; Mathieu Roy, CEO of the Trans Canada Trail; and Shari Ulrich, Juno Award-winning musician.

“The health care system is almost exclusively focused on solving problems after they occur,” said Dr. Jack Taunton, CHFI’s founding director, co-founder of Sports Medicine in Canada and initiator of the Vancouver Sun Run.

“By promoting mental, physical and spiritual health – by extending people’s health span, not just their life span – we aim to stem the rising tide of screen addiction, sedentary behaviour, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, loneliness , mental illness, substance abuse. , and unnecessary costs of disease care,” he added.

“I am especially pleased that Canada’s First Minister of Physical Activity, Carla Qualtrough, will be speaking at the National Health and Fitness Forum,” said John Weston, President of CHFI.

Along with then-Senator Nancy Greene Raine, Weston introduced the bill that designated the first Saturday in June each year as National Health and Fitness Day, which this year falls on June 1.

“Finding innovative approaches to improve and inspire physical and mental health in our communities is critical,” said West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager. “The knowledge and energy that will be shared at this forum will benefit everyone in West Vancouver, the North Shore, Metro Vancouver and across Canada. We are excited to share our community with all Canadians.”

The national forum, organized by the Canadian Health and Fitness Institute (CHFI), supports the Let’s Move Canada Challenge, which was launched on June 1. From June 1 to June 21, CHFI and its partner, the Indigenous Physical Activity & Cultural Circle, are inviting all Canadians. collectively to produce more than 500,000 hours of healthy physical activity, a gain of 100,000 hours over last year. People participate by downloading the Strava app, then joining the Let’s Move Canada 2024 Challenge. Participants can submit photos or tag @letsmovecanada. I can also win an iPad by entering a raffle. CHFI, a national charitable foundation, has the stated goal of making Canada the best nation on Earth by 2030.

Attendance at today’s event is free and seating is limited. For full event and contest details, go to chfi.fit.

Fatemeh Falah is an intern reporter at North Shore News. She can be reached at (email protected).