Child obesity plan to take 10 years

It could be a few years before the government gets cracking on Premier Brad Wall's promise to reduce child obesity.

In January, Wall promised a five per cent reduction in the rate of obesity among children, but gave few details.

Now the government says it wants to make the change over 10 years.

This year will be a planning year to gather data and figure out goals and plans, according to Tami Denomie, the director of the Health Ministry's population health branch.

"It will have its challenges in measurement, absolutely, and we recognize that," Denomie said.

"I mean, that's one of the reasons we wanted to be able to take this year to really dive a little bit deeper into the issues and really get a better understanding of what that target means."

According to a 2004 Statistics Canada report, the self-reported rate of overweight and obese children (between the ages of two and 17) in Saskatchewan is 29 per cent. That's higher than the national average.