Canadian Health & Diet

More than 34 million people live in Canada and official figures suggest that many of them don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, get enough exercise or maintain healthy body weight. Still, according to the Central Intelligence Agency's 2011 life expectancy list, the average Canadian can look forward to living to the age of 81.38, making Canada's longevity rate twelfth in the world. By comparison, the average American expires at the age of 78.37, putting the United States in 50th place on the international longevity list.

Weight and Aerobic Fitness

The Canadian Health Measures Survey for 2007 to 2009 reported a significant decline in both fitness levels and body composition among Canadians of all age groups since 1981, when a previous study was conducted. Statistics Canada, the federal government's fact-gathering department, noted an especially pronounced deterioration in healthy body mass index and aerobic fitness among adults aged 20 to 39, putting them at four times greater risk of developing serious health problems. On average, 37 percent of adults of all ages were overweight and 24 percent were obese. Among children and teens, 17 percent were deemed overweight and 9 percent obese.

Nutrition

In 2004, the largest survey of its kind ever conducted questioned more than 35,000 Canadians about what they'd eaten over a 24-hour period. The report released in 2006 concluded that 7 of 10 children aged 4 to 8, and more than half of all adults, weren't meeting the daily recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption set out in Canada's Food Guide. More than a quarter of adults aged 31 to 50 exceeded recommended levels of dietary fat, putting them at elevated risk for health problems, and people of all ages consumed about the same number of calories in between-meal snacks as they'd eat during lunch.

Cancer

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that for every week of 2010, an average of 3340 new cases of cancer, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers, were diagnosed, and 1,470 Canadians died of cancer. The CCS projects that cancer will ultimately cause the death of about a quarter of the population, but a study examining five-year survival rates among 31 countries found Canada's, at 82.5 percent, to be among the best. According to Statistics Canada's analysis for 2005, the most common cancers, accounting for more than half of all cases, were breast cancer, responsible for 20.5 percent, followed by prostate and colorectal cancers.

Heart Disease and Related Conditions

A study published in the July 20, 2009 "Canadian Medical Association Journal" concluded that the prevalence of heart disease in Canada had increased by 20 percent in men, and 2 percent in women, from 1994 to 2005. The most likely explanation is that earlier diagnosis and improved treatments allowed more people to survive their first heart attack, researchers suggested. However, the prevalence of risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, had risen dramatically among people of all ages and income groups. Lead author Dr. Douglas Lee of Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluation predicted that if the obesity trend in adolescents continued, by 2035, the rate of heart disease in the population would jump by 5 to 16 percent.