G
ganjavih
Guest
Big-city dwellers less obese than small-town residents
OTTAWA -- The bigger the city, the smaller the waistlines of people living there, according to a Statistics Canada report released Tuesday.
The latest data from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey compared obesity and overweight people in and outside census metropolitan areas and used actual measurements of height and weight, not self-reported numbers.
It found that adults who lived in large Canadian cities were far less likely to be obese than their counterparts outside metropolitan areas. As the size of the city increased, the likelihood of being obese fell. Overall, 20 per cent of city residents were obese, compared to 29 per cent of those who lived outside a city. In metropolitan areas with a population of at least two million (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver), only 17 per cent of adults were obese. For urban areas with a population of 100,000 to two million, the obesity rate was 24 per cent, and, in cities with populations of 10,000 to 100,000, the number jumped to 30 per cent.
The Statistics Canada report also indicated that among adults who did not live in urban centres, those who commuted to a large city or even to a smaller urban centre were less likely to be obese.
In municipalities where a high or fairly high proportion of the population commuted to a nearby urban centre, obesity rates were comparable with the national average. In those where few people commuted to work in an urban centre, the obesity rate was almost twice the national average.
The Statistics Canada report cites American research that links obesity and urban sprawl, and suggests that the consequences of urban sprawl include "increased reliance on cars, decreased motivation to walk to destinations and reduced opportunities for exercise because of the time required to travel to recreational facilities." The Statistics Canada finding that residents of municipalities farthest away from urban centres are the most likely to be obese is consistent with that research, the report said.
The report’s findings make sense to Dr. Arya Sharma, scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network.
"If you look, at people living in downtown Toronto, they may not even own a car. They walk everywhere. You don't use your car when you have six blocks to go or even 10 blocks, you just walk it," he said. "People who use public transportation spend way more time on their feet because they have to walk to the bus stop, they're standing, they climb stairs and all of that contributes to preventing obesity," says Sharma, a professor of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton.
A possible explanation for the low obesity rates in the largest cities is the tendency for immigrants to settle in these areas — they are less likely to be obese than people born in Canada — but the study controlled for that variable and still came to the same conclusion.
While adult city dwellers were less likely to be obese than rural residents, the same was not true for children, the study said. With the exception of Alberta, where the trend was the same, nationally the proportion of two- to 17-year-olds who were overweight or obese was comparable in large cities and rural areas.
© CanWest News Service 2006
OTTAWA -- The bigger the city, the smaller the waistlines of people living there, according to a Statistics Canada report released Tuesday.
The latest data from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey compared obesity and overweight people in and outside census metropolitan areas and used actual measurements of height and weight, not self-reported numbers.
It found that adults who lived in large Canadian cities were far less likely to be obese than their counterparts outside metropolitan areas. As the size of the city increased, the likelihood of being obese fell. Overall, 20 per cent of city residents were obese, compared to 29 per cent of those who lived outside a city. In metropolitan areas with a population of at least two million (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver), only 17 per cent of adults were obese. For urban areas with a population of 100,000 to two million, the obesity rate was 24 per cent, and, in cities with populations of 10,000 to 100,000, the number jumped to 30 per cent.
The Statistics Canada report also indicated that among adults who did not live in urban centres, those who commuted to a large city or even to a smaller urban centre were less likely to be obese.
In municipalities where a high or fairly high proportion of the population commuted to a nearby urban centre, obesity rates were comparable with the national average. In those where few people commuted to work in an urban centre, the obesity rate was almost twice the national average.
The Statistics Canada report cites American research that links obesity and urban sprawl, and suggests that the consequences of urban sprawl include "increased reliance on cars, decreased motivation to walk to destinations and reduced opportunities for exercise because of the time required to travel to recreational facilities." The Statistics Canada finding that residents of municipalities farthest away from urban centres are the most likely to be obese is consistent with that research, the report said.
The report’s findings make sense to Dr. Arya Sharma, scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network.
"If you look, at people living in downtown Toronto, they may not even own a car. They walk everywhere. You don't use your car when you have six blocks to go or even 10 blocks, you just walk it," he said. "People who use public transportation spend way more time on their feet because they have to walk to the bus stop, they're standing, they climb stairs and all of that contributes to preventing obesity," says Sharma, a professor of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton.
A possible explanation for the low obesity rates in the largest cities is the tendency for immigrants to settle in these areas — they are less likely to be obese than people born in Canada — but the study controlled for that variable and still came to the same conclusion.
While adult city dwellers were less likely to be obese than rural residents, the same was not true for children, the study said. With the exception of Alberta, where the trend was the same, nationally the proportion of two- to 17-year-olds who were overweight or obese was comparable in large cities and rural areas.
© CanWest News Service 2006
