British Columbians are on the right track when it comes to healthy living but more must be done to avoid projected increases in chronic conditions like diabetes, according to a new study.
A B.C. Healthy Living Alliance study found the province is on pace to see a spike in some chronic health conditions due to continued high obesity rates caused in part by unhealthy eating and lack of exercise.
In the On the Path to Better Health report released this week, the group found that the underlying issues are especially acute in northern B.C. The study found that northerners in general don't eat enough fruits and vegetables nor do they exercise enough. The smoking rate in the north is also higher than the provincial average.
"All of the risks in the north are even worse," BC Healthy Living Alliance Secretariat director Mary Collins said. "[The reason for that is] a little bit of a conundrum, I think it's a whole combination of things - cost of living, cost of fresh fruits and vegetables, in some areas it's more difficult to be active due to weather conditions or you may not have access to walking trails."
If attitudes towards healthy living don't continue to evolve, study authors predict that more than 750,000 British Columbians could develop Type 2 diabetes within the next two decades and the number of new cancer cases could rise by 75 per cent in just 10 years.
While the message about eating a well-balanced diet is nothing new, Collins said continued efforts are needed to ensure people have the skills to cook healthy meals and become more aware of what they're eating. One step towards that are voluntary regulations in B.C. that will require some nutrition information to be listed on restaurant menus.
Collins said a broad-based buy-in is needed to make long-term sustained changes to people's diet and exercise regimes. She said government could act by taxing sugar-sweetened drinks and by regulating the type of advertisements of unhealthy foods directed at children.
"Government can't do it all," she said. "It has to be a combination of players from federal, provincial and local governments along with the private sector, community groups and individuals."
Although the report does raise alarm bells about the possibility of increased rates of diabetes and other diseaes, Collins said there are steps being made to address the issue. She praised Northern Health for innovative smoking cessation program targeted at specific populations and said the health authority is doing a good job engaging with communities to promote healthy living.
Overall, British Columbians have better health indicators than Canadians in most other provinces.
"I think [British Columbians are] on the right track, from a personal point of view, because we are seeing some improvements and certainly a lot of initiatives being carried out at the provincial government level, at the local government level, with NGOs, schools - but of course they take quite a while to be grounded and to start to change behaviours and so it's something where you have to keep working at it," she said.
Collins said behavioural changes will take time to kick in, but structural changes in society will be even more difficult to achieve. The report also found that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds have higher rates of risk factors for chronic illness.
"That's something that's much harder to address," Collins said. "It requires an all-of-government, all-of-society approach. It's not just something the health ministry can do, it requires things like increasing the minimum wage and looking at how you can have your tax system support those who may have a lower income."
