City less healthy than Ontario average: report

Thunder Bay continues to outpace the province in potentially fatal trends, including high rates of smoking, obesity and high blood pressure.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation released its 2010 annual report on the health of Canadians. Overall, the report shows that Ontario residents are the third best in Canada in terms of their heart health risk behaviour.

But the report shows that in Thunder Bay, 57.8 per cent of people are considered overweight or obese. That's slightly higher than Ontario’s 51.6 per cent average. That also puts Thunder Bay 21st among 36 Ontario cities that recorded data.

About 26 per cent of Thunder Bay residents smoke, well above Ontario's 20 per cent average. That ranked the city in 29th place out of the 36.

Local residents seem to be exercising a bit more than the average citizen. About 44 per cent of local residents are considered physically inactive, compared to the provincial average of 50 per cent. That isn’t enough to put the city in the top 10 of that category as Thunder Bay rests in the 12th spot.

About 32 cities in Ontario are eating more fruits and vegetables than Thunder Bay. The city ranked 33rd of 36 in the health diet category. While some 17.6 per cent of local residents have high blood pressure, compared to the provincial average of 15.2.

Northern Ontario School of Medicine's Doctor Greg Ross says the Thunder Bay statistics aren't improving at all. In fact, they're increasing higher than the provincial averages if anything.

And when it's coupled with other risk factors, like the aging population, he said he is worried this will cause a major problem in the health-care system in the coming years.