Okanagan kids are all right; Study shows Central Okanagan children healthier, smarter than average
The Daily Courier (Vernon)
November 24, 2008
By: Don Plant

If it takes a village to raise a child, the Central Okanagan is doing a pretty good job, according to a new study.

A children's advocacy group has found local kids from birth to age six are faring better in terms of health, learning and family security than many areas of the B.C. Interior.

Even so, the cost of living in Kelowna, Peachland, the Westside and Lake Country remains a challenge for young families, says study author Amanda Turner.

"For a child ... if you're not fed or you don't have steady shelter, how can you grow emotionally, physically and mentally, and be ready for school?" she said. "Children whose needs aren't met aren't able to develop to their full capacity." The State of the Child Report, commissioned by Community Action Toward Children's Health (CATCH), ranks the Central Okanagan above most regions in the province. …

Kindergarten teachers who surveyed their students halfway through the school year found 6.5 per cent of them were weak in terms of language and mental ability in 2007. The rate was nearby double (12 per cent) in 2005, said Turner, who consulted with Human Early Learning Partnership…

Another plus is the 70 local organizations and programs dedicated to educating parents and supporting families. Nineteen of them provide prenatal and infant support.

There are areas that need improving, the study found. Twenty-seven per cent of local children are weak in at least one aspect of their development (e.g. communication skills, social ability, emotional maturity) when they enter kindergarten. Kelowna had the highest number of new children (244) taken into care last year in the Interior -- 42 more than the year before, according to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

The Kelowna Community Food Bank estimates 23.5 per cent of children six and younger live in poverty in the Central Okanagan. ….

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QUICKFACTS

Other child-care facts according to the CATCH coalition:

-- 8,900 children aged from birth to six lived in the Central Okanagan in 2006.

-- 14 per cent of local families have one parent.

-- The Central Okanagan had 3,368 childcare spaces in March, a 17 per cent increase from 2005.

-- Average monthly toddler-care costs rose to $950 from $800 in the last year….