[Only The Lonely..]

You are where you eat, study shows

EDMONTON -- A broad look at Canadian cities suggests that when it comes to your weight, you are where you eat.

Researchers at the University of Alberta have put together an obesity map they say comes from a pretty common-sense idea.

"Several people have pointed it out as a possible or likely cause for increasing obesity rates; that is, that increasing the access to fast food or poor-quality foods might somehow be contributing," said health economics professor Sean Cash.

He and his fellow researchers decided to put that idea to the test by combining obesity figures from cities across the country with the density of the most popular fast-food restaurants. The research was completed earlier this year and presented in poster form at an Agricultural Institute of Canada conference.

"We found there was actually a fairly strong relationship, a strong correlation between the two, that those cities that had higher obesity and overweight rates tended to have a higher density of at least the larger fast-food restaurant chains, so there were more restaurants per person in those cities," Cash said.



The big picture

A list of the different cities in Canada, along with their percentage of obesity, according to 2006 Statistics Canada data and their number of the fast-food outlets per 10,000 people:

% POP. Obese # of Fast Food Outlets per 10,000 people
St. John's, NL., 36.40%, 3.54
Saint John, N.B., 34.70%, 4.11
Hamilton 34.60%, 3.00
Thunder Bay, 32.60%, 2.68
Regina, 31.80%, 3.08
Saskatoon, 27.00%, 2.94
Calgary, 25.70%, 3.23
Winnipeg, 25.20%, 2.75
Abbotsford, B.C., 25.00%, 2.96
Montreal, 21.20%, 1.44
Edmonton, 20.10%, 3.14
Ottawa, 9.70%, 2.54
Victoria, 19.00%, 2.55
Halifax, 18.40%, 3.85
Quebec, 17.30%, 1.97
Toronto, 15.60%, 2.05
Vancouver, 11.70%, 2.03




Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto were some of the cities with the lowest density of these restaurants, about two or less per 10,000 people. Those cities also had lower incidences of obesity.

The areas with higher density, or 3.5 to four restaurants per 10,000 people, tended to be in the Maritimes.

"We found that some of the highest rates of obesity and overweight (people) in Canada, according to Statistics Canada, were in Atlantic provinces -- cities like St. John's, with over 36 per cent of the population estimated to be obese," he said.

Cash cautions the study simply shows a correlation; it doesn't explain if the two things are connected. He says further study is needed to see whether the availability of restaurants actually causes more people to eat fast food, whether the restaurants purposely set up in places where people already tend to be heavier, or if there's another factor entirely at play.

"All we can say from our study is that looking across cities, there is a very strong relationship between where the fast-food restaurants are more densely located and those higher rates of obesity."

Ian Janssen, a population health professor, said that while the study seems to provide intuitive results, it's done on such a broad scale it needs to be interpreted with caution.

Research being done at his lab on an individual level is showing different results, and findings across other studies and countries have been mixed.

-- The Canadian Press

[Mille Sabords]

** munch, munch ** (finishing a KFC 6-piece bucket with fries and gravy)

Hm!

[harls]

Where did stats canada get my weight from? I don't remember filling that in on my census form..

[1ajs]

dam transcona

[Jimby]

Steven Harper must be included in the Calgary stats, not Ottawa!

[Greco Roman]

dam transcona

Actually, there are few fast food restaurants there east of KP.

[someone123]

There is a fairly strong correlation but the fast food restaurants don't cause obesity or make it impossible to get healthy food. Based on that list of city's I would bet that a comparison of obesity rates to education levels or wealth would yield an even stronger correlation.

I'm also wondering what counts as a fast food outlet. Tim Horton's? What about places like Subway, which might not actually be that bad?

Halifax's obesity rate is lower than I would have thought and Calgary's is higher. I'm not surprised that Vancouver is the lowest.

[salvius]

Ottawa seems to be bucking the trend in that analysis. What's making Ottawans so darn thin?

[Rusty van Reddick]

There is CLEARLY a weak correlation here at best- I can't believe the press this non-story is getting. Look at the outliers and their "fast food" ratios. This is a crap study that says nothing.

"Obesity" is a vague concept at best (no matter how "concrete" BMI measures are- there is a HUGE difference in health expectations and outcomes for a person with a BMI of 31 and one of 40- but both are considered "obese." I could go on and on here- it's an arbitrary cutoff and we have no idea HOW "obese" the "obese" are), but so is "fast food," which for some reason is only operationalised as CHAIN "fast food." So all those wonderful chip wagons and truckstops don't count.

Terrible, terrible, misleading, worthless "news."

[HomeInMyShoes]

I think you could correlate obesity to the number of Timmies per capita.

Reheated donuts and double cream double sugar to make the swill they pass off for coffee tolerable is a surprisingly unhealthy choice.

[clynnog]

I think you could correlate obesity to the number of Timmies per capita.

Reheated donuts and double cream double sugar to make the swill they pass off for coffee tolerable is a surprisingly unhealthy choice.


I believe this survey overlooked Brantford, the Timmies capital of the western world. Lots of people there who could do with a workout.

[jeremy_haak]

I'm not surprised that Vancouver is the lowest.

The second lowest. Ottawa was lower still.

Ottawa seems to be bucking the trend in that analysis. What's making Ottawans so darn thin?

I know when I lived there that there seemed to be an unusually high number of people cycling/jogging etc. I think that's also reflected in the stats for transportation where i believe close to 20% of the people there walk or bike to work.

[MTLskyline]

Looks like Ottawa is a little heavier after all. So yes, Vancouver is the lightest in the country.

Ottawa should read:
Ottawa, 19.70%, 2.54

Source: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g7oI4U5OWUId8gpgKSU-ezVmBeVw

[Aylmer]

That's because Harper is eating up funding...
And he only released a 1%GST cut!

Had he not been in there, we would be less than 2%.

[Aylmer]

Someone pop him with a pin!

Release some of that hot air that destroys our ecosystems.

[O-Town Hockey]

Can someone add another column to this chart called "% of city population from Asian descent". Asian people are so darn skinny that they skew the results. White people are fat no matter where you find them.

http://c-avolio.com/uploaded_images/fat_guy.jpg http://us.123rf.com/400wm/eastwest/eastwest0608/eastwest060800166.jpg

I think the next column should be "proportion of population which is unemployed"; I see another startling trend.

[Coldrsx]

no way Edmonton is only 1 in 5 obese...id say 3/5

[Cambridgite]

http://c-avolio.com/uploaded_images/fat_guy.jpg

:haha: :haha: :haha:

[softee]

Yeah, cities with high Asian populations will have less overall obesity in their populations, and there are definitely loads of overweight white people in every city.

[matt602]

Hamilton at third... damn. I suppose taking a walk through Jackson Square gives you a good idea of it though.

[Cambridgite]

There are a lot of CMAs missing on that list....

[Only The Lonely..]

People are heavier on the prairies because we have more disposable income than those fancy, schmancy, metrosexual types living in Toronto.

When you're not paying down a mortgage on a $900,000 duplex, or working 12 hour shifts as an office stiff, you have a lot more time for doing the things that matter in life like watching wrestling and eating Whopper's.

[Only The Lonely..]

There are a lot of CMAs missing on that list....

K-W gets no respect.. ;)

[Cambridgite]

K-W gets no respect.. ;)

:haha:

Neither does Windsor, London, St. Catherine's-Niagara, Oshawa, Barrie, Guelph, Peterborough, or Sherbrooke. I can't recall if Kingston was on there either. Considering the list was created outside of Ontario, they must have forgot that there was more to Ontario than just Toronto. ;)

[theman23]

:haha:

Neither does Windsor, London, St. Catherine's-Niagara, Oshawa, Barrie, Guelph, Peterborough, or Sherbrooke. I can't recall if Kingston was on there either. Considering the list was created outside of Ontario, they must have forgot that there was more to Ontario than just Toronto. ;)

Hamilton, Thunder Bay, and Ottawa were included.

[Cambridgite]

Hamilton, Thunder Bay, and Ottawa were included.

Yeah I know...but they forgot a lot of Ontario.

[mmmatt]

A slightly longer list

St. John's, NL. - 36.40, 3.54

Saint John, N.B. - 34.70, 4.11

Hamilton - 34.60, 3.00

Windsor, Ont. - 33.20, 3.30

Thunder Bay, Ont. - 32.60, 2.68

Regina - 31.80, 3.08

Kitchener, Ont. - 30.70, 3.36

Oshawa, Ont. - 29.60, 1.78

Kingston, Ont. - 28.90, 3.53

Saskatoon - 27.00, 2.94

London, Ont. - 26.60, 3.38

Greater Sudbury, Ont. - 26.10, 3.91

Calgary - 25.70, 3.23

Winnipeg - 25.20, 2.75

Abbotsford, B.C. - 25.00, 2.96

St. Catharines, Ont. - 23.10, 3.31

Montreal - 21.20, 1.44

Edmonton - 20.10, 3.14

Ottawa - 19.70, 2.54

Victoria - 19.00, 2.55

Saguenay, Que. - 18.90, 1.69

Halifax - 18.40, 3.85

Quebec - 17.30, 1.97

Toronto - 15.60, 2.05

Vancouver - 11.70, 2.03

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/12/18/4730904-cp.html

[Aylmer]

Prety!

[MolsonExport]

Yeah, from my experiences living in BC, outside of Vancouver, Victoria (and Whistler), the province is full of fatties. Yet Montreal has very few fatties, and also comparatively few asians.

[MolsonExport]

Prety!

?

[vanman]

Yeah, from my experiences living in BC, outside of Vancouver, Victoria (and Whistler), the province is full of fatties. Yet Montreal has very few fatties, and also comparatively few asians.

I didn't really see many fat people in Montreal when I was there.

I can say for Vancouver there is definitely an obsessive focus on health and nutrition ingrained in the culture. Eating at Shatdonald's or even Wendy's is somewhat frowned upon. I usually eat either Subway or Sushi if I have to eat in a rush.

[mmmatt]

Im eating a Big Mac right now! mmm mmm good.

I guess its a difference in culture.

[Only The Lonely..]

What I find fascinating is the difference in obesity between two cities in the same province.


Alberta
Calgary, 25.70%, 3.23


Edmonton, 20.10%, 3.14


Quebec
Montreal, 21.20%, 1.44

Quebec, 17.30%, 1.97



People in Calgary must be completely repulsive to your average Edmontonian.

[PhilippeMtl]

I dont want to start a debate but french descent people are slimmer than British Island origin people.This is a fact and it is a genetic thing.

This is the reason why Montreal (higher percentage of English-speaker) has a higher obesity rate than Quebec City. Btw, BC (ranked first) and Quebec are the 2 provinces with the lowest obesity rate in Canada. (and probably N.A)

[harls]

I dont want to start a debate but ..

Them's DEBATIN' words!

[psych1]

I dont want to start a debate but french descent people are slimmer than British Island origin people.This is a fact and it is a genetic thing.

This is the reason why Montreal (higher percentage of English-speaker) has a higher obesity rate than Quebec City. Btw, BC (ranked first) and Quebec are the 2 provinces with the lowest obesity rate in Canada. (and probably N.A)

Sounds fishy, what is your source for that information? Can you provide a citation? If you are basing your assertion only on the reasoning you provide in paragraph 2, you need to take some logic and science courses. Not that I really care about the conclusion, but weak arguments stated as fact drive me :banana:

[salvius]

I dont want to start a debate but french descent people are slimmer than British Island origin people.This is a fact and it is a genetic thing.

I doubt that. What are you basing this information on?

This is the reason why Montreal (higher percentage of English-speaker) has a higher obesity rate than Quebec City. Btw, BC (ranked first) and Quebec are the 2 provinces with the lowest obesity rate in Canada. (and probably N.A)

And yet Montreal AND Quebec ranks significantly higher on the obesity scale than Toronto, full of English speakers, and with a significant British Aisles population. Combine with the fact that the obesity problem is a relatively new problem the world over, and something doesn't square.

[MolsonExport]

I must be a real Turkey, 'cause that is what I just ate for lunch.

[PhilippeMtl]

Statcan and canadian Institute for Health information are a better source than a single study.


I dont know where they took the obesity number on this study but a 6 years old child can do a better job.

It is a fact than BC and Quebec have a lowest obesity rate. Just make a research on google and you will find it.

[Rico Rommheim]

Sorry phillippe but I don't really buy it. If you show some stats though I might consider it. Besides there is no longer just "anglos" and french, everyone is pretty much mixed between Irish and Scottish and french and what have you. The genetics have been diluted over 400 years of intermarriages and relations.


Here's my theory why Montrealers are slightly fatter than our Quebec and Torontonian counterparts: too many Souvlakis! To many Shish Taouks! Too many 99 cent pizza joints!

[clynnog]

Here's my theory why Montrealers are slightly fatter than our Quebec and Torontonian counterparts: too many Souvlakis! To many Shish Taouks! Too many 99 cent pizza joints!

Too many brochettes, steamies, and all you can eat mets chinois.

[Rico Rommheim]

Yes, also.

[RWin]

There is CLEARLY a weak correlation here at best- I can't believe the press this non-story is getting. Look at the outliers and their "fast food" ratios. This is a crap study that says nothing.

"Obesity" is a vague concept at best (no matter how "concrete" BMI measures are- there is a HUGE difference in health expectations and outcomes for a person with a BMI of 31 and one of 40- but both are considered "obese." I could go on and on here- it's an arbitrary cutoff and we have no idea HOW "obese" the "obese" are), but so is "fast food," which for some reason is only operationalised as CHAIN "fast food." So all those wonderful chip wagons and truckstops don't count.

Terrible, terrible, misleading, worthless "news."

Yes, definitely a weak coorelation at best.

Just looking at the numbers alone, if there was anything to it, wouldn't you expect:

Montreal and Quebec to be at the bottom of the list.
Halifax to be second from the top.
St. John's and Saint John to be switched.
Thunder Bay should be much further down.

I wonder how much the study cost?