Nunavummiut don’t feel good, StatsCan survey shows

People in Nunavut don’t feel very well compared to other Canadians — and The Canadian Community Healthy Survey for 2011, released June 19 by Statistics Canada, shows how bad the situation is.

A lower proportion of people in Nunavut than in the rest of Canada — in fact, the lowest proportion in Canada — feel their health is good and they also rate their mental health as lower than any other residents of Canada.

The numbers in the survey show they’re probably correct in their self-diagnoses because they’re less active, eating poorly, suffer more health problems and enjoy little access to regular health care.

According to the survey:

• about three in four Nunavummiut are overweight and obese, the second highest proportion in Canada after Newfoundland and Labrador;

• Nunavummiut are eating fewer fruits and vegetables than they were in 2003 and about half as much as much as other Canadians;

• one in five Nunavummiut suffer high blood pressure, double the rate from 2003 and higher now than in the rest of Canada;

• more than one in 10 Nunavummiut suffers from pain that keeps them from participating in some activities, a percentage that’s up from 2003;

• rates of invasive cancers among Nunavummiut are high — colon cancer rates that are two times higher and lung cancer rates at least four times higher than among other Canadians;

• while in 2011, one in five Canadians aged 12 and older (19.9 per cent ) smoked occasionally or daily, down from 25.9 per cent in 2001; in Nunavut, 55 per cent of people still smoke; and;

• few Nunavummiut have regular doctors — only one in five compared to four in five for other Canadians.

You can see how Nunavut compares to the rest of Canada yourself on the StatsCan website.