It’s the people who are getting fatter, not their pocketbooks. Despite growing research, including last week’s Canadian Health Measures Survey from Statistics Canada, that indicates that Canadians are likely more overweight than ever before, living a healthy lifestyle just keeps getting more expensive.
Waist circumference is a way of measuring the risk that obesity will lead to health complications because weight around the internal organs can cause diabetes and heart disease.
From 1981, when the last national health survey was conducted, the number of teenagers aged 15 to 19 at risk has tripled. For those aged 20 to 39, the number of people with a waist circumference higher than normal has quadrupled and adults aged 40 to 69 are twice as likely to be at risk.
It’s an epidemic that’s for sure, but what is to be done? Whose responsibility is it to make exercise and healthy food more affordable for more people?
Sure, at some point you have to stop making excuses for people who just don’t want to get fit, but the facts have revealed for years that there is a direct correlation in Canada between obesity and poverty, and for thousands of families in Ottawa, that’s not an excuse – it’s a reality. It can be downright difficult to afford a healthy lifestyle and keep the weight down.
In a report entitled Obesity in Canada: Identifying Policy Priorities, published in 2003 jointly by the Canadian Institution of Health Research and the Canadian Population Health Initiative, specialists outline the main reasons why poverty and obesity have a direct correlation.
First, access to gyms and fitness facilities is often restricted to those on a budget. Most fitness centres and gyms average monthly membership fees between $35 and $55.
Sure, there are opportunities to save some money by signing a yearly contract, but often those are money grabs or scams like pesky cell phone contracts.
Add to the $600 a year for the gym the cost of running shoes, athletic clothing, extra fitness classes, personal trainers, power bars, multivitamins and all the other things that may not be necessary, but certainly help someone lose weight and you’re looking at quite a big chunk of money.
The next barrier is that often housing and transportation costs take precedence over buying healthier food and gym memberships.
When the choice is between paying rent and buying organic fruits and vegetables and lean fish and seafood, most people would opt for the cheesy macaroni over being evicted. Junk food is simply cheaper than healthy food, especially when feeding a family.
When millions were dying of lung cancer and second-hand smoke, the government did something about it.
Now that obesity has trumped smoking as the leading cause of death in North America, it’s time the government started looking at obesity for what it is – a disease that can be controlled through education, accessibility and an injection of funding into social programs that emphasize living a healthy lifestyle.