SudburyÂ?s medical officer of health told a coronerÂ?s jury Friday itÂ?s virtually impossible to lead a healthy lifestyle if you are a single person living on social assistance.
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Dr. Penny Sutcliffe said thereÂ?s a direct relationship between living in poverty and poor health.
Â?ItÂ?s not contested at all that poverty is bad for health,Â? said Sutcliffe. Â?The issue is how to we address this.Â?
Sutcliffe was testifying at the coronerÂ?s inquest into the death of Kimberly Rogers.
Rogers was eight months pregnant when she was found dead during a blistering heat wave in her West End apartment, Aug. 9, 2001. Rogers was sentenced to six months of house arrest after pleading guilty to fraud. She collected welfare benefits while receiving $32,000 in student loans between the fall of 1996 and fall of 1999.
Rogers died of an overdose of anti-depression medication. The inquest has heard she suffered from chronic depression, insomnia, panic attacks and migraine headaches.
After her conviction on April 25, 2001, Rogers had her welfare benefits automatically cut off by the provincial government for three months. A Toronto judge reinstated the benefits after a successful court challenge one month later.
Sutcliffe told the jury every one of 37 health units in Ontario has been mandated to provide information on a Â?nutritious food basket.Â?
This involves visiting numerous grocery stores in each community and purchasing and costing 60 food items which would constitute a healthy and nutritious menu over one month.
The cost for a nutritious food basket in Sudbury is $140 for a single person.
The inquest has heard Rogers would not have had $140 to spend on food after she paid her rent.
Living expenses like transportation, utilities, clothing, toiletries and recreation are not factored into this equation, said Sutcliffe.
The food consumed by a pregnant woman directly effects the health and welfare of mother and child and the average Ontario Works recipient simply canÂ?t afford a healthy diet, she said. The inquest resumes Monday.
