Not a huge surprise, but thanks to David Eaves (of the interesting blog Eaves.ca) we can see that if obesity rates in Canadian Provinces were ranked alongside American States, our Provinces place first through fifth.
Before you get too excited, Nunavut and the North-West Territories fall into 30th place.
Regardless of how you want to look at the data one thing's for sure - North America is one big continent and it's only getting bigger.
[Hat tip to Mark Schrimsher from CalorieLab who also created the original map that David worked off of]
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I wonder what the per capita income is in each of these provinces. It has been said that Western obesity is connected with poverty and I think they have a point. I would guess that lean meats and vegetables are are quite expensive in Nunavut and they are always expensive for people with low incomes.
ReplyDeleteAnd food/recipes common to the area would also be a factor. Look at the US southwest, where EVERYTHING is fried, including the vegetables.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at the difference between Alaska and the Yukon. I mean, how different can the two cultures be up there?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the Canadian prevalence data used here are derived from self-reported surveys of height and weight, which we know leads to underestimation of true prevalence.
ReplyDeleteIf we were to calculate % obese based on physically measured heights and weights (see StatCan's Health Reports, Vol 17(3), 2006), then:
- BC would remain dark green;
- Quebec and Ontario would become that light fleshy colour;
- NS and AB, light orange;
- PEI, dark orange; and
- other provinces and territories, brown.
Very true (the self-reported comment).
ReplyDeleteHowever, the data from the American States are also self reported so as a comparison I can only assume that North Americans as a whole over-inflate their height and under-inflate their weight the same amount (now there would be a curious study).
No doubt both countries could sport bumper stickers, "objects in the mirror are heavier than they appear"
I wonder if the results have anything to do with our public health care model.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it would be interesting to see the contrast between urban and rural rate of obesity.