Raise the Hammer

Christi,

I certainly didn't intend to offend with my comments about the much lower rates of obesity in Vancouver, which is why I hesitated in mentioning it. I apologize if you were offended.

This is certainly not an esthetic issue, but a health issue and I believe it is related to the pedestrian-friendly active lifestyle encouraged by the urban design of the city. I should have been clearer that lower obesity rates mean a healthier population. Vancouver's obesity rate of 11.7% is almost three times lower than Hamilton's rate of 34.6% (http://www.canadafacts.org/the-slimmest-and-fattest-in-canada/), and this is associated with a significantly healthier population. Table 1 of

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/health...

shows that the average life expectancy in Vancouver is 81.1 years (the highest in Canada), while the average life expectancy in Hamilton is 79.4 years.

Vancouver has been rated the "healthiest city in Canada" according to several measures:

http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/health/canadas-healthiest-cities http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/...

Hamilton didn't make the top 20 in 2009.

According to most epidemiologists and public health organizations North America and Europe are facing a so-called obesity epidemic which has serious health implications. For example, see the following parliamentary report:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/resear...

Figure 1B of this report shows that the prevalence of obesity in Canada has increased from less than 8% in 1970 to about 15% in 1998. The rate in 2010 was 25%, more than three times the rate in 1970 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2010/09/23/obesity-canada-adults-oecd.html). Lack of exercise is cited as a significant risk factor epidemiologically (i.e. on a statistical basis), and a pedestrian-oriented city has a more active population. The parliamentary report points out numerous health dangers with obesity,

"Numerous scientific studies have linked overweight and obesity with increased risk for a broad range of illnesses, including: Type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, gallbladder disease, obstructive sleep apnea and respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease (e.g., coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke), hypertension, osteoarthritis, some types of cancer (e.g., breast, endometrial, colon, prostate and kidney), psychosocial problems, functional limitations and impaired fertility.(11)"

See also the World Health Organization:

http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/obes...

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2011-08-05 22:13:35