Rural Canadians typically die younger than their urban counterparts and a rural lifestyle that features more smoking, greater rates of obesity and less healthy eating is part of the explanation, says a federal study.
The study published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information said there are more accidents, more suicides, unhealthier lifestyles and more health issues in rural and remote areas.
“Our analysis shows that risk factors such as smoking and obesity are reported more frequently among rural than urban residents and this may contribute to the higher risk of dying prematurely from circulatory disease among rural and remote residents,” said the report.
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Newfoundland doctor Michael Jong, president of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada, said the major problem is the lack of rural access to health care services.
“Rural Canadians are older, poorer, sicker and more accident-prone than their urban counterparts,” he said.
“We hope our new Conservative government will respond to the desperate need to improve the health status of rural Canadians. Enhanced access to health care is a key component.”
Marie DesMeules, acting director of the chronic disease prevention and control branch at the Public Health Agency of Canada and a key player in preparing the report, said in a Sept. 28 interview it is too early to jump to that conclusion.
A second study now underway is looking at health system accessibility as an issue in rural Canada.
“Since we are just doing it now, it would be premature to speculate on any causes,” she said. “However, there are a number of factors that are obvious contributors from the work we already have completed.”
Rural people typically eat fewer fruits and vegetables than city consumers do and while 47 percent of urban Canadians are overweight, that number soars to 57 percent in rural Canada. Smoking is more prevalent in rural Canada.
“These clearly are factors,” she said.
The problem becomes worse the farther researchers strayed from the city.
Rural residents with easy access to urban areas, including those who commute to city jobs, have similar lifestyles and the same mortality rates as city dwellers, according to the report.
DesMeules said one factor could be that it is more difficult to spread healthy choices information to more dispersed rural residents.
