Oh no, Canada

With obesity rates and unhealthy lifestyles on the rise, are we headed for a health crisis?
Apr. 5, 2010 | By: Alison Dunn

Canadians may be headed toward a health crisis. Obesity rates are rising dramatically, increasing our chances of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, some kinds of cancer and more. While we're starting to become more aware of our health, we still have a long way to go to fix the problem.

"[Health] hasn't really come back on to the agenda until we're into a chronic disease issue that we're in now," says Michelle Brownrigg, the executive manager of public affairs for Active Healthy Kids Canada.

To get a handle on what's happening to our health, we decided to take a look at where we stand today and find out just what that means for our future as healthy Canadians.

The state of the nation

According to the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), 5.5 million Canadians – almost a quarter of the population – are now obese, which means they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

That's bad news for the nation's health, considering that a high BMI is associated with increased levels of cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease, some forms of cancer and osteoarthritis. A Statistics Canada report even found that obesity now rivals smoking as a major cause of illness and premature death.

The number of overweight and obese Canadians has grown dramatically over the past 25 years. According to a report from the Canadian Population Health Initiative called "Overweight and Obesity in Canada: A Population Health Perspective," the increase in Type II diabetes appears to be directly correlated with our widening waistlines. To make matters worse, Type II diabetes – once known as "adult onset diabetes" – is being diagnosed at younger ages as childhood obesity increases.

Not only are we gaining weight more rapidly, our eating habits continue to slide. Only 35 percent of Canadians actually eat the five to 10 servings of fruit and vegetables per day recommended by Canada's Food Guide. Our continuing reliance on fast food is growing and a study from Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) found that the number of fast food restaurants in an area is linked to the rate of heart disease and mortality in that region. The study also found that the more fast food available, the higher the rates.

"Obviously we still don't get it," says Dr. David Alter, the ICES Scientist who spearheaded the study. "We still don't get the fact that these common lifestyle choices are so important in our health."

But it's not all bad news when it comes to our health. Smoking in Canada has declined from 33 per cent in 1981 to 17 per cent in 2003, says a study from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

We're also starting to move more and get active. The majority – 54 per cent – of Canadians are now physically active. But those rising activity levels don't mean we're winning the war on obesity. Physical activity on its own is not going to address the problem of obesity.

Why are we failing?

The real question when it comes to our health isn't whether or not we're failing, but rather why are we doing so poorly? It's not an easy question to answer, say health experts.

There are a number of factors that have contributed to the decline in our overall health. One of the biggest is that the way we live today has engineered activity out of our daily lives. "We have, through day-to-day life, become less active," says Active Healthy Kids' Brownrigg. "We have snow blowers instead of snow shovels. We have a lot of activities that allow us to sit and get things done, as opposed to walk to get them done. We drive as opposed to riding a bike…"

Commuting, busy schedules and a lack of time all contribute to the problem as well, forcing us to rely more heavily on pre-packaged and fast food. "Fast food is pretty pervasive in Western society," says ICES's Alter. "We're an easy sell for fast food."

Taking action

Just because it's bad news for Canadians health, however, doesn't mean we have to sit back and accept our declining state. The good news is there are lots of things we can do to improve our health and well-being.

First and foremost, we need to take action in our own lives, says Alter. "It ultimately boils down to lifestyle choices that we have to make," he says. "It's about education, and it's about commitment and sacrifice. It's about diet, and it's about exercise, and it's about not smoking."

Start by trying to add more activity into your own life. Try and walk to the store rather than drive, take the stairs rather than the elevator, and try to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.

Also, make a commitment to healthy eating. If you have to rely on packaged foods, become a savvy consumer and learn how to read labels, and buy items that are lower in fat and calories.