A/HRC/22/50/Add.1 the right to food having been given explicit consideration.34 Canada has one of the lowest deficit-to-GDP ratios and debt-to-GDP ratios among industrialized countries, and it is precisely in times of economic and financial crisis that guaranteeing robust social protection measures is most required. Furthermore, the “maximum available resources” include resources that could be mobilized by the Government, including through fiscal reform. According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, since 2000, cuts to personal, sales and corporate taxes have been such that the 2011-2012 tax revenues would have been CAN$48 billion higher than the actual revenues collected if the tax regime of a decade ago was still in place. The tax-to-GDP ratio of Canada has fallen to 31 per cent of GDP and it is now in the lowest third of OECD countries. Consequently, Canada has the fiscal space to address the basic human needs of its most marginalized and disempowered. VI. Food adequacy 41. Over 25 per cent of Canadian adults are obese as are 8.6 per cent of children between the ages of 6-17, according to a joint report by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information based on 2007-2009 data.35 Overweight and obesity combined affect 62.1 per cent of the population. Obesity rates have increased significantly since the early 1980s,36 and it is becoming more severe. On-reserve First Nations have particularly high obesity rates (36 per cent in 2002-2003). The risk of dying from diabetes and its complications is five times higher among First Nations women than among women in the general population.37 This has led to the adoption of the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative which supports a variety of activities to help improve healthy food access and availability in First Nations and Inuit communities. 42. The health impacts are considerable. In 2008, obesity alone cost the Canadian economy at least Can$4.6 billion in direct (health care) and indirect (lost productivity) costs, when factoring in the eight non-communicable diseases most frequently associated with obesity; the costs for 2008 amount to $7.1 billion taking into account a larger range of diseases associated with obesity.38 Within remote Aboriginal communities, the consequences of high diabetes rates are particularly disturbing since specialized services may be inaccessible.39 43. Initiatives have been taken to address this public health and economic challenge. They include nutrition labeling on prepackaged foods, as well as nutrition guidelines and policies such as Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, infant feeding guidelines and prenatal nutrition guidelines. Some of the most interesting initiatives are adopted at the municipal level. For example, Toronto has adopted a food strategy that focuses on health 34 35 36 37 38 39 Less than one-third of public institutions affected by the 2012 federal budget cuts explain the operational impacts. Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, “Monitoring Implementation of the Government’s Expense Plan,” 3 October 2012, http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca. Public Health Agency of Canada, “Obesity in Canada”, 2011, http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hlmvs/oic-oac/index-eng.php. In 1979, Sabry estimated that 17 per cent of the Canadian population was obese (Z.I. Sabry, 'Should Nutrition Be Part of the National Food Policy?', in R. M. A. Loyns, ed., Proceedings of the Agricultural and Food Marketing Forum Occasional Series, No. 11, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, 1979). C.H. Yu, B. Zinman, 'Type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in aboriginal populations: a global perspective', Diabetes Res. Clin. Pract., vol. 78 (2007), pp. 159-170. A. Anis et al., “Obesity and Overweight in Canada: An Updated Cost-of-Illness Study,” Obesity Reviews, vol. 11, No. 1 (2009), pp. 31-40. See First Nations of Québec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission, Scan on Diabetes in First Nations Communities in Québec, 2011. 13