Seven more years

Would you be able to change your behaviour if it meant you could add a few years to the end of your life?

Specifically, what would you be willing to do for seven more years of healthy living and good times with family and friends?

If you are like the majority of people in Ontario the answer to that question seems to be, “not much.”

That conclusion is based on the findings of Project Big Life, which estimates the risk of death associated with certain health behaviours.

This model is based on more than 70,000 health outcomes and explains the impact of smoking, alcohol, diet, physical exercise and stress on health and life expectancy.

The researchers found the combined effect of these risk factors represents an overall loss of seven-and-a-half years for many Ontario residents.

Some unfortunate souls displaying all five unhealthy behaviours can lose more than 20.

Of course this is a reflection of the self-destructive lifestyle choices we all make and the risky health behaviours that are tolerated and even encouraged in our society.

If you would care to confess your own unhealthy habits and discover your own personal life expectancy, the project offers online tools and surveys you can use.

In addition to life expectancy you can also calculate your salt intake and even determine the number of days you can expect to spend in the hospital.

This was all part of the mission of Project Big Life – creating online screening tools to engage the public and organizations with meaningful health risk evaluations.

You can take these surveys in privacy and when your secret shame is revealed, you can decide for yourself whether or not to change your ways and live longer.

Before you decide, here’s some more information.

It is not surprising that smoking, physical inactivity and diet have the greatest impact on life expectancy and overall health.

Heavy smokers have a greater risk of death than physically inactive people but since there are more slackers than smokers in Ontario inactive lifestyles have the biggest overall impact.

Smoking is the most hazardous (22 per cent of Ontarians), physical inactivity (37 per cent) is the most challenging and poor diet (my guilty pleasure) is unfortunately the most delicious.

Only 1.4 per cent of those surveyed had no risk factors. I wonder where these people hang out while the rest of us are pounding down our coffee and crullers.

If every resident of Ontario took measures to reverse their one most risky health behaviour, life expectancy in the province would rise by almost four years.

But talk is cheap and human behaviour is hard to change – sometimes even the Grim Reaper isn’t motivation enough.

A healthy lifestyle is an achievable goal – just look at Canada’s healthiest province, which has boasted this country’s highest life expectancy for almost 20 years.

British Columbia also has the lowest proportion of residents who smoke, have poor eating habits or who are physically inactive.

It hasn’t happened by accident. B.C. has clearly defined goals with specific targets and there is a commitment to healthy living public policy.

Their vision includes a B.C. where nine out of 10 will not smoke, seven out of 10 will eat five fruits and veggies every day and that same number will be physically active.

I wonder if any of our provincial election candidates have any thoughts regarding these serious health-related issues.

As a happy consequence, improvements in public policy could lead to a reduction in both formal health care requirements and also informal care given by family members.

Go online, try the Project Big Life tools and decide for yourself.