Congratulations to the fittest member of our clan, one Liam Higgins, who proudly represented Chain Reaction Cycling (although he never mentioned us in the article) in the Windsor Star. Liam accurately portrayed what it takes to be a member of CRC, off-biking workouts and beers...
We’re heavier, drink more ... but are happier: survey
Windsor-Essex residents more prone to disease
Windsor and Essex County residents tend to be more overweight, more prone to disease, heavier smoking and harder drinking than the average Ontarian.
And we’re slightly shorter-lived.
But at least we’re smiling: We’re a tiny bit ahead of the provincial curve when it comes to our estimations of our mental health.
The figures can be found in the June 2012 regional health profiles that Statistics Canada released on Tuesday as part of the results of its annual Canadian Community Health Survey.
Data for our area is organized under two profiles: One for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and the other for the Erie St. Clair Health Integration Network.
In both profiles, more than 61 per cent of the region’s residents are identified as overweight or obese — compared to an Ontario average of 52 per cent.
Both profiles also show higher-than-average rates for arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and cancer.
At least 22 per cent of us are current smokers (daily or occasional), compared to an Ontario-wide figure of 18.9 per cent.
When it comes to heavy drinkers, the Erie St. Clair LHIN tallied 19.8 per cent of residents and the WECHU tallied 20.6 per cent of residents. The provincial average is 15.9 per cent.
A local health and fitness club is hoping they have the secret to draw in residents from the region. Ever since Windsor Squash and Fitness opened in 1973, they’ve served alcohol in addition to snacks and other beverages.
“It’s just an overall atmosphere thing. We like to make people as comfortable here and if that means you play squash with your buds for an hour then feel like sitting down to have a Bud, than I guess we’re the right place for you,” said club manager Dave Porter. “I mean alcohol makes people happier, fitness makes people happier, we’re just everything together in one happy place.”
Porter said it’s good to hear that people in the area seem to be happier in comparison to the average Ontarian but adding a good habit, like working out, to existing bad habits can improve those numbers even more.
For Liam Higgins, who has been a member of the club for 16 years, the reward of having a couple of beers and friends to hang out with at the end of a workout makes it worth the effort.
“The club’s been a God-send as far as meeting people. For me, it’s not just working out when I come here. It’s a social thing,” said Higgins. “It’s a little bit of an anomaly with this club because when you finish your workout, you can go and have a beer, and there’s probably not too many fitness facilities that do that, but I think it’s great.”
Life expectancy in the Erie St. Clair LHIN region is 80.3 years. In the WECHU region, it’s 80.7 years.
The average life expectancy for the entire province is 81.5 years.
Maybe part of the problem is that we don’t eat fruits and vegetables as much as other Ontarians. Across the province, an average of 43.2 per cent of residents said they eat fruits and vegetables five or more times a day. In WECHU region, that figure drops to 36.3 per cent. In the Erie St. Clair LHIN region, it drops to 35.6 per cent.
The figures also show that fewer residents of both regions feel a “sense of community belonging” and “life satisfaction” compared to the Ontario average.
And yet, when it comes to mental health, 75.3 per cent of WECHU region residents and 75.1 Erie St. Clair LHIN region residents reported theirs as “very good or excellent.” That’s actually a bit better than the provincial average of 74.3 per cent.
Most of the figures didn’t come as a surprise Windsor’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Allen Heimann.
“Certainly, some of the major points such as cigarettes, alcohol and weight — these are things we’ve been concerned about for some time,” Heimann said on Tuesday.
However, there were pieces of data that Heimann found unexpected. For example, the asthma rate for the WECHU region is 7.2 per cent — lower than the Ontario average of 8.3 per cent.
“I would’ve thought that figure to be higher, given where we are — Generally higher pollen counts, more allergens, more days of heat, more days with poor air quality index,” Heimann said.
While the WECHU region’s overall current smoker rate remains worse than the provincial average, Heimann pointed out that our present rate for daily smokers (18 per cent) is significantly lower than it was in 2003 (25 per cent).
“So that’s a good thing,” he said. “That’s one area we’ve focused on.”
Asked why there hasn’t been more dramatic change in the region’s other problem health categories, given the WECHU’s education efforts over the years, Heimann said that instilling healthy behaviours isn’t quite as simple as telling people what they should do.
“The difficulty with modifying health behaviours is that it’s ‘multifactorial.’ You’ve got to deal with multiple issues. It’s not just education,” Heimann said.
Dr. Martin Lees, primary care lead for the Erie St. Clair LHIN, had similar thoughts.
“That is the big question in health care,” Lees said. “Changing behaviour characteristics in large populations is a notoriously difficult thing to do, and a very complex undertaking.”
“We know that the population has been like this for quite some time,” Lees said. “I wish I had the answer … It can take generations to see change.”
It was a hot one tonight. That might explain the poor turnout. No Smitty (we should start a game, "Where in the World is Mike?"), no Jim (wife wouldn't let him out because she was too busy celebrating end of school year), no Rob (he didn't want to listen to the teachers celebrating), no Liam (ok reason not to ride, but what about beers?), no Ali..... oops sorry Ali was there. I just never saw him because he was at the front of the pack all night. That might explain all the cuts on my arms and legs as he led us through a quick pace of Morton and then he wanted to make sure we hit every hill and overgrown trail at Malden. 
