A new study paints a bleak picture of the health of Canadians’ hearts. It found that fewer than one in ten Canadian adults–nine per cent–meet the criteria for “ideal” cardiovascular health.
The study–published in this week’s edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal–is based on nearly half a million Canadians.
Young Canadians did only slightly better. Seventeen per cent of youths aged 12 to 19 got top scores for healthy behaviours.
Twice as many women as men (13 per cent vs. six per cent) were in ideal cardiovascular health over the eight-year-study period that ended in 2011.
The study found that Canada’s heart health was better in the west than in the east with best scores recorded in British Columbia and the worst in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Researchers calculated heart health scores according to the CANHEART (Cardiovascular Health in Ambulatory Care Research Team) index. It uses six measures for “ideal” heart health: not smoking, having a body mass index of less than 25, doing the equivalent of 30 minutes of walking per day, eating five or more servings and fruits and vegetables daily and no diabetes or high blood pressure.
Cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death in Canada after cancer.
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