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Canada Is Healthier Than U.S.
Study:
Obesity, Diabetes, High Blood
Pressure, Arthritis More Common in the States.
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By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
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The U.S. is less
healthy than its northern neighbor Canada, according to a new
study.
The study appears in July's
American Journal of Public
Health. The researchers
included Karen Lasser, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical School and
the medicine department at the Cambridge Health Alliance in
Massachusetts.
Data was gathered by
Statistics Canada (the Canadian census office) and the U.S.
National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the CDC.
Between November 2002 and March 2003, interviews were done by
telephone with 3,505 Canadians and 5,183 U.S. residents.
The results: "With
the important exception of having lower rates of cigarette
smoking, U.S. respondents were less healthy than Canadians, with
higher rates of obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes,
hypertension (high blood pressure), arthritis, and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease," write Lasser and colleagues.
U.S.,
Canadian Health
Here's a closer look
at the gap between the U.S. and Canada on various health
conditions:
Obesity: 20.7% of U.S. respondents; 15.3% of Canadian
respondents
Sedentary lifestyle: 13.6% of U.S. respondents; 6.5% of
Canadian respondents
Diabetes: 6.7% of U.S. respondents; 4.7% of Canadian
respondents
High blood pressure: 18.3% of U.S. respondents; 13.9%
of Canadian respondents
Arthritis: 17.9% of U.S. respondents; 16% of Canadian
respondents
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): 1.9% of
U.S. respondents; 1% of Canadian respondents
Current daily smoking: 16.8% of U.S respondents; 19% of
Canadian respondents
Heart disease,
depression, and overweight BMI that falls short of obesity were
similar in the U.S. and Canada, the study shows.
Health
Care Findings
The survey also
covered health care topics including routine screening, access
to medical care, and satisfaction with medical care. Canada has
a universal health insurance program; the U.S. doesn't.
"Compared with
Canadians, U.S. residents are one-third less likely to have a
regular medical doctor, one-fourth more likely to have unmet
health care needs, and are more than twice as likely to forgo
needed medicines," write Lasser and colleagues.
They add that
"problems accessing medical care are particularly dire for the
U.S. uninsured," and that while both countries had racial gaps
in health, those gaps were wider in the U.S.
SOURCE: Lasser, K.
American Journal of Public Health,
July 2006; vol 96.
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© 2006, WebMD Inc. All rights reserved. |
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