The swimming program in 84 Toronto District School Board (TDSB) schools will be all “washed up” by the end of February. The cost for running the pools is 16 million dollars. The City of Toronto had been funding 41 of the pools, but as we all know the city is broke and the funding has “dried up”.

The province had not been contributing to the operation of the pools. In June of 2007 the TDSB passed a motion that if the province didn’t come to the table with the necessary funding by February 1, 2008 that the pools would be shut down. There is no indication that the 16 million dollars is forth coming so the plans for draining and closing the pools is going ahead.

What ever happened to a “healthy mind and a healthy body”? Over the years we have continued to eliminate after school sports and activities and now this. It spells disaster for the health of our young people. In less than one generation, obesity in children has tripled. Obesity is now an epidemic. Let’s not even discuss the havoc that this will cause with our health care system. In case this sounds like alarmist talk, have a look at these statistics. According to Health Canada:

• Over ½ of Canadian kids aged 5 to 17 are not physically active enough for optimal growth and development
• Obese children have a very good chance of becoming obese adults
• There is a rise in Type 2 diabetes in children
• There is a rise in hypertension in children
• There is a rise in hyperlipidemia in children
• The percentage of overweight children is growing exponentially

Shouldn’t we be doing everything in our power to ensure that are children are kept active and healthy? Instead of shutting down “active programs” we should be creating new ones. Aren’t we being penny-wise and pound-foolish? The money that we are saving now is going to be eaten up down the road in health care costs.