Natural Resources Canada

The proportion of population « physically active » is based on the energy demands of a series of leisure-time activities that people participated in during the three months previous to the survey. Most scientific evidence is supportive of physical activity as a positive determinant of health....

Many health professionals in Canada consider that obesity has reached or is nearing epidemic proportions in this country. Most scientific evidence is supportive of physical activity as a positive determinant. Greater health benefits can be achieved by increasing the amount; duration, frequency,...

Prevalence is measured as the proportion of daily smokers in each province who were considering quitting. Smoking is a health behaviour that deteriorates health. Smoking is the most important cause of preventable illness, disability and premature death.

Prevalence of smoking is measured as the proportion of all persons 12 years of age and older who smoked daily or occasionally in 1996 to 1997 for each province. Smoking is a health behaviour that deteriorates health. Smoking is the most important cause of preventable illness, disability and...

Areas with a ratio of 100:1 or lower are found mainly in eastern Canada and Manitoba. These are areas where the number of registered nurses per capita is higher than the national rate. At the other end of the scale, regions with relatively few nurses per capita-with ratios greater than...

Neither rural areas nor urban areas predominate with respect to any specific range of the family physician ratios. The Federal and Provincial Advisory Committee on Health Manpower recommended that a ratio of 1307:1 would be a suitable target for family physicians. In contrast to the distribution...

Major cities are associated with comparatively few people per physician; every province has one or more census divisions in which the ratio is less than or equal to 550:1. None of the territories has a ratio this low. At the same time, each province has a significant number of areas with ratios...

Canada’s average population to specialist physician ratio has been 1100:1 for over a decade. Low ratios are generally associated with urban areas. The region with the highest ratio is located in north central Newfoundland, a region with relatively few people but even fewer physician resources,...

The use of the services of a dentist or orthodontist for Canada as a whole was just under 60%. It was far lower than physician utilization in 1997. Use ranges from a low of 46% in Newfoundland and Labrador to highs of 63% in British Columbia and Ontario. The reason for low dental utilization is...

During 1997 close to 80% of Canadians made use of the services of a family physician. For Canada as a whole, and for each province, the majority of the population, close to 58%, visited a family physician more than twice during that time period. Health services utilization patterns, for both...

One woman in nine can expect to develop breast cancer during her lifetime and one in 25 will die from the disease. Statistically low incidences of breast cancer are found in Newfoundland and Labrador, the territories, and northern areas of most provinces. Otherwise, each province has one or more...

This map uses age-standardized ratios to further aid in regional comparisons. A value of 1.0 would indicate that the region rate is identical to the overall Canadian rate; a value greater than 1.0 would indicate that the rate for that region is higher than the Canadian rate; and, in turn, a ratio...

The Atlantic Provinces have a higher proportion of low birthweight births than most other areas in Canada. As one moves west through the Prairies, then to British Columbia, and finally to the territories, the low birthweight births decrease by region. Low birthweight (LBW) is a health status...

This age group of mothers has tendency towards higher proportions (often 8.0% and over) of low birthweight babies. On this map only the cities are represented because there is a low number of women in this group in rural and remote areas and hence the data has been suppressed due to reasons of...

Teen mothers often have a higher proportion of low birthweight babies than do mothers in the 20 to 39 year age group. There is a significant concentration of high low birthweight rates for teen mothers in Atlantic Canada. Areas with very high 1996 low birthweight rates (8.0% and grater) are most...

There are low numbers of low birthweight babies in this age category, but this is not unexpected since the younger and older mothers, who have higher rates of low birthweight births, have been excluded. Low birthweight (LBW) is a health status indicator, and is defined as babies born with weight...

There is a tendency for life expectancy to be higher in those regions where high school attainment has been graduation by most individuals in this age grouping (25 to 29 years). Canada has an excellent record in providing its citizens with an education, and consequently a potential for better...

The highest proportion of post-secondary graduates can be found in the health regions where there is one or more relatively large urban centre. Canada has an excellent record in providing its citizens with an education. The proportion of Canadians with a university education rose from 6.4% in...

Poverty, usually measured using income, and poor health are closely related. Income is one of the non-medical determinants of health. The poor experience the highest rates of illness and premature death. The income measures are for the year 1995 as reported in the 1996 Census. In that year,...

Poverty, usually measured using income, and poor health are closely related. Income is one of the non-medical determinants of health. For most of the 1990’s, the proportion of Canadians living below the low-income cut-off value increased significantly. The highest incidence values are found in...