Lousy lifestyle means fewer healthy years, says Eastern Health report
Work and wages also make a difference
A report from the province's largest health authority says Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are not living as many healthy years as the average Canadian, and it could be partly because of our lifestyle.
"You'll have 2.2 fewer healthy years of life than the average Canadian," said Kelly Butt, manager of pandemic and public health planning with Eastern Health.
The information is in the first of a series of 24 health status reports to be released over the coming two years, in monthly chapters.
Butt said at least 93 per cent of people in the Eastern Health coverage area have at least one risk factor for chronic disease.
"Not eating enough fruits and vegetables, being physically inactive, heavy drinking, smoking," Butt told the St. John's Morning Show.
The Eastern Health data shows that when disease and disability are taken into account, women in the province get 69.4 healthy years, compared to 66.3 for men.
The average life expectancy is 81.2 years for women and 76.5 years for men.
"You don't just want to live long, you want to live well," said Butt, who added that the number of seniors will rise from 16 per cent to 28 per cent of the total population by 2035.
"That's a huge number of people who are 65-plus and If they're not aging well, if they're not getting these additional years of healthy life, then that is definitely going to pose a burden," said Butt.
Education, income also factors
The health status reports also show that people tend to be healthier if they are educated and employed.
Of the people surveyed, 66.8 per cent of those who had post secondary education described their health as excellent or very good, compared to 56.6 per cent for those who just graduated high school.
"Those with higher levels of education smoke less, are more physically active and have access to resources that improve quality of life," according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, which is quoted in the Eastern Health report.
The data also shows that 67.7 per cent of employed individuals described their health as excellent or very good, compared to 54.2 per cent for those who were unemployed.
Income levels are significant, according to Eastern Health, in determining what food people eat, where they live and their social activities.
Data from 2012 shows the average annual income for a couple living in the eastern region was $2,400 more than the national average, and $8,500 more than the provincial average.