Want to live longer? Move to Vancouver
Jul. 29th, 2004 03:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcOTTAWA - People in Vancouver already enjoy warmer winters and better scenery than most of Canada – now they can expect to live longer too, according to a Statistics Canada study.
The report released Wednesday, called Health of Canadians Living in Census Metropolitan Areas, found that the range of life expectancy varied greatly across Canada, with Vancouverites having an average life expectancy of 81.1 years. At the other end of the scale, people living in the northern Ontario city of Sudbury have the shortest life expectancy at 76.7 years, about the same as those living in Ireland, Portugal or the U.S. Researchers used self-reported health data from 25 cities across Canada.They found that cities with a greater proportion of post-secondary graduates, higher average family household income and a higher share of recent immigrants tended to be healthier.Heavy smoking, drinking, obesity and high blood pressure rates were linked to lower life expectancy.
Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto had the lowest smoking rates, while more than a third of people aged 12 and over in Sudbury and Trois-Rivières, Que., said they smoked. Vancouver and Toronto also had the lowest rates of heavy drinking at no more than 12 per cent, compared to the Canadian average of 15 per cent. Chicoutimi-Jonquière, Thunder Bay, St. John's and Sudbury had rates greater than 20 per cent. People living in Windsor reported the highest rate of unmet health-care needs at 18.7 per cent. The border city also reported one of the lowest rates of family doctors per 100,000.
The study also compared the life expectancy of people in Canada with that of other members of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development. At 79.4 years, Canadians generally live 2.6 years longer than Americans but 1.8 years behind the front-runner, Japan.
[Pinched from CBC Vancouver]
The report released Wednesday, called Health of Canadians Living in Census Metropolitan Areas, found that the range of life expectancy varied greatly across Canada, with Vancouverites having an average life expectancy of 81.1 years. At the other end of the scale, people living in the northern Ontario city of Sudbury have the shortest life expectancy at 76.7 years, about the same as those living in Ireland, Portugal or the U.S. Researchers used self-reported health data from 25 cities across Canada.They found that cities with a greater proportion of post-secondary graduates, higher average family household income and a higher share of recent immigrants tended to be healthier.Heavy smoking, drinking, obesity and high blood pressure rates were linked to lower life expectancy.
Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto had the lowest smoking rates, while more than a third of people aged 12 and over in Sudbury and Trois-Rivières, Que., said they smoked. Vancouver and Toronto also had the lowest rates of heavy drinking at no more than 12 per cent, compared to the Canadian average of 15 per cent. Chicoutimi-Jonquière, Thunder Bay, St. John's and Sudbury had rates greater than 20 per cent. People living in Windsor reported the highest rate of unmet health-care needs at 18.7 per cent. The border city also reported one of the lowest rates of family doctors per 100,000.
The study also compared the life expectancy of people in Canada with that of other members of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development. At 79.4 years, Canadians generally live 2.6 years longer than Americans but 1.8 years behind the front-runner, Japan.
[Pinched from CBC Vancouver]
