News

Your choice of neighbourhood can directly impact how healthy you feel, according to a new report that shows inner-city living could be very good for you.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information divided data from the 2001 Census into neighbourhood groups based on education, income, immigration and density, then compared that to a 2003 study asking people to rate their own health.

People in Calgary were feeling on top of the world, with 67 per cent of residents rated their health as excellent or very good.

In other cities, the percentage of people feeling very good or excellent was: Halifax - 63 per cent Vancouver - 59 per cent Montreal - 58 per cent Toronto - 56 per cent.

Overall, Ontario wasn't feeling as good: Toronto, Kingston, Windsor, Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay in Ontario, as well as Saguenay in Quebec, were all below the national average of 59 per cent reporting very good health.

Not only were there major differences between cities — there were significant differences from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

In Vancouver, there was a 15 percentage point gap between neighbourhoods for the adults and youth rating their health as excellent or very good. Montreal had the same discrepancy, said CIHI vice president of research and analysis Jennifer Zelmer.

“Differences between regions of Canada— or even between neighbourhoods within a city— can be as large as differences between countries,” Ms. Zelmer said.

In general, residents of neighbourhoods with a higher-than-average proportion of post-secondary graduates and a higher-than-average median income are more likely to rate their health as excellent or very good. They're also more likely to be physically active, and less likely to report being smokers. And people living closest to downtown reported the lowest rates of obesity.

Urban Canadians were also adopting healthier behaviours — getting regular exercise, not smoking and consuming less than five drinks in a sitting — with the West Coast leading the charge.

Victoria, Vancouver and Abbotsford were the most likely to adopt all three healthy behaviours, with 32 per cent to 35 per cent of residents taking the healthy route.

Atlantic Canada and Quebec were dragging the chain, though: Saint John, Halifax and St. John's joined Montreal, Quebec and Saguenay as the least likely metropolitan areas to tick all three health-living boxes, with only 20 per cent to 23 per cent of residents in those areas fitting the bill.

Accessibility appears to play a key role in both living and feeling healthier: People living in pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods tend to be more physically active, and children who lived in places with more safe and accessible play spaces were less likely to be overweight, Ms. Zelmer said.

Meanwhile the car-dependent suburbs had higher rates of overweight people.

Immigrants tended to report better health, and areas with higher levels of immigrants also reported lower injury rates.

Ms. Zelmer said the findings indicate that active living should be promoted through building codes and urban planning.