| Your Health Research Dollars at Work 2006-2007 |
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Regional Profiles
Research Successes
Knowledge Translation
| Health Research Results Updates |
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. Through CIHR, the Government of Canada invested approximately $63.9 million in 2006-07 across Canada in research on child health.
Canada's infant mortality rate - the number of deaths in children under one year of age per 1,000 live births - in 2004 was 5.3.
Cancer, although rare, is the most common potentially fatal illness among Canadian children and the second leading cause of death among children aged 1 to 14 (injury is the leading cause of death).
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common childhood behavioural disorder, occurring in 3 to 5% of school-aged children. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an important neurobehavioral condition affecting children. Although prevalence rates depend on definitions and surveillance efforts, some studies suggest rates may be as high as 60 per 10,000.
Childhood asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness in Canada and most other developed countries. Statistics Canada reported that the prevalence of asthma in Canada has increased fourfold over the past 20 years.
In 2004, 18% of children aged 2 to 17 were overweight and 8% were obese - accounting for more than one-quarter of all children.
It is estimated that obesity and physical inactivity may reduce life expectancy by 3-5 years over the next 40 years - similar to the number of potential years of life lost due to cancer.
Poverty is a major determinant of children's health. Almost all facets of health are worse among impoverished children than among children from more affluent families.
Can a vitamin a day help keep childhood cancer away? According to Dr. Gideon Koren, a CIHR-funded researcher at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, moms-to-be may be able to reduce their child's risk of developing cancer by taking prenatal multivitamins. In the first study of its kind, Dr. Koren and his colleagues compiled and analyzed the results of a large number of smaller studies on the same subject. They found that children whose mothers had taken multivitamins fortified with folic acid while pregnant had a reduced risk of developing leukemia, brain tumours and neuroblastoma, three of the most common childhood cancers.
Teenaged boys are at a higher risk for suicide than girls the same age and new CIHR-funded research suggests that, for rural teenaged boys, this risk increases the further they live from schools. The study by Laura Armstrong of the University of Ottawa also found that taking part in meaningful extracurricular activities is associated with a reduced risk of suicide for both male and female rural teens. Ms. Armstrong's research highlights the importance of giving teens the opportunity to participate in after-school programs.
Canada's health-care system has an international reputation for being fair and accessible and, when it comes to obstetric care, the reality appears to match the rhetoric. A recent study by CIHR-funded researcher K. S. Joseph at Dalhousie University suggests that Canadian women have equal access to labour induction and caesarean delivery, regardless of their income level. Dr. Joseph also found that hospitals are offering these services to the pregnant women who need them the most. Studies like Dr. Joseph's help us monitor the quality and equity of health care that our country provides.
As a teenager, CIHR-funded researcher Dr. Nicole Letourneau spent a lot of time looking out for children: at the pool, on the playground, and as a counsellor. This protective instinct has never left her and has motivated her research - she simply wants to give children the best possible start in life.
Dr. Letourneau, a professor at the University of New Brunswick, is studying how to lessen the impact of domestic violence on young children.
According to the most recent Statistics Canada study, 95,326 women and dependent children sought refuge at domestic violence shelters across the country between April 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004. A survey taken on April 14, 2004 found that 46% of the residents in Canadian shelters were children.
"We know all kinds of things about how parenting is important for early child development, but no one had ever looked at how violence in the home affects maternal-infant relationships," says Dr. Letourneau. "And I couldn't believe that!"
She is currently interviewing mothers who have been the victims of domestic violence, collecting information about their experiences and the impact on their relationships with their children. Dr. Letourneau wants to translate her findings into programs to lessen the negative impact of domestic violence on young children.
"One thing we have been hearing from mothers is that they are so glad that someone is actually studying this, because they worry about how the violence is going to affect their children's development. They want to know how they can do something to reduce the harmful effects," says Dr. Letourneau.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 11,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
160 Elgin St., 9th Floor, Ottawa ON K1A 0W9
http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/
