UNB kinesiology professors set sights on obesity
Department reaching out to doctors with idea of putting fitness experts in health clinics
Kineseology professors at the University of New Brunswick are hoping to team up with the medical profession to try and tackle the province's growing obesity problem.
New Brunswick's obesity rate is third highest in the country at 33.2 per cent, and well above the national average of 25.
Among metropolitan areas examined by Statistics Canada in a 2014 report on obesity, Saint John had the highest obesity rate in the country and 38.1 per cent.
The Miramichi health region led the country's 51 health regions with an obesity rate of 40.8 per cent.
This is the perfect population for me to study because most people are inactive.- Danielle Bouchard
"This is the perfect population for me to study because most people are inactive," said Danielle Bouchard, who has relocated to Fredericton to study and teach at UNB.
"They don't do regular physical activity — like you don't have to do cross-fit, just walking."
Statistics Canada's 2014 report on obesity uses body mass index (BMI) — weight in kilograms divided by height in metres — to determine obesity, with anyone with a BMI of 30 or higher being considered obese.
Martin Sénéchal, Bouchard's husband and a fellow UNB kinesiology professor, is studying the costs of obesity.
A 2013 study by the Canadians Institute of Actuaries shows obese people cost the health-care system an extra 30 per cent over their lifetime.
"Twenty-five, 30 per cent of obese people are free of risk factors of diabetes and cardiovascular disease," said Sénéchal.
"So I am trying to make sure that people stay at that stage."
The kinesiology department has been meeting with the New Brunswick Medical Society to bridge the gap between kinesiologists and doctors.
They hope to create kinesiology placements in health clinics so both parties can tackle the province's growing obesity problem together.