Report: Heart disease and obesity in Canada on the rise
The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation has released its annual report on Canadians’ health, ominously titled “A Perfect Storm of Heart Disease Looming on Our Horizon,” and the news is not good.
According to Dr. Beth Abramson, the foundation’s spokesperson, “In a very short time, the face of heart disease in Canada has changed to include groups that have historically been immune to the threats of heart disease.” These groups include young Canadian adult men, once-healthy Boomers (people aged 50 to 64), women, Aboriginal peoples, and our growing immigrant populations. The stark rise in poor health statistics among these groups of people “could overwhelm the healthcare system with an entire new generation of patients.”
Some of the specific factors that the researchers find worrying include skyrocketing rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, physical inactivity and obesity.
Causes
In light of these trends, heart disease, poor eating and obesity are now beginning to overtake smoking as the greatest threat to Canadians’ health.
The causes are relatively simple, but this doesn’t mean they’re easy to change. According to Health Canada’s entry on obesity, declining health among Canadians can be attributed to several factors, including:
- Jobs are less physically demanding than they used to be.
- People rely upon cars more than they used to.
- Leisure activities are more passive (e.g., watching TV, playing video games, surfing the internet) and less active (e.g., going for walks, enjoying nature).
- At schools, physical education and recess times have been reduced.
- Food portion sizes are larger, while unhealthy foods are cheap and abundant.
Of course, Canada is not alone in these trends. These same factors unite much of the developed world. Among large developed nations, the United States still has the highest percentage of overweight people (74.1%), but Canada is not far behind (61.1%).
Effects of poor health
The increase in poor health among Canadians effects society on multiple levels. Firstly, overweight and obesity affect people on an individual basis, leading to all sorts of problems, including:
- diabetes
- heart disease
- joint problems
- sleep apnea
- increased risk of cancer
- depression
- negative social effects
Secondly, on a societal level, poor health and obesity place tremendous strain on Canada’s health system. More health problems mean more hospital visits, more medical procedures and higher medical costs, which in turn translates into higher bills.
In the long run, this unhealthy way of life is not sustainable. As health care takes up a higher and higher percentage of the national budget, either other areas of spending will have to suffer, or everyone will have to pay higher taxes. Some people will resent the idea of paying higher taxes because of others’ poor health choices.
In short, society-wide changes are needed.
What can be done?
The Heart and Stroke Foundation report concludes with a series of policy recommendations for the Canadian government. These include improving Canadians’ nutrition by enacting trans fat regulations, posting calorie counts at restaurants, standardizing portion sizes, making more nutritious foods available, and tackling childhood obesity head-on.
Meanwhile, according to the foundation’s recommendations, it also can’t hurt to expand physical education programs in school, and to make sure that cities and towns are designed with walkability in mind.
And on a more individual level, the Foundation makes a separate set of recommendations via its website. Some of these include:
- having a healthy, balanced eating plan;
- exercising “30 to 60 minutes a day, most days of the week”;
- eating more vegetables, fruits and whole grains while cutting back on sugary beverages, fatty meats, trans fats and salt;
- driving less and walking more;
- limiting one’s snacking to natural foods in small portions;
- placing limitations on kids’ daily internet, video game and television use;
- aiming for a Body Mass Index below 25.
- Staff -