Is the health-care system ready for us?
It’s a fact: 24 per cent of us still smoke in HRM, more than 80 per cent say they consume more than five drinks of alcohol each week and more than 30 per cent of us admit to having unhealthy eating habits.
Yet we are all concerned about the ability of the health-care system to “look after” us and most folks complain about the cost.
Much of the rest of our health-care report card is not a lot better.
Only 14 per cent of respondents in a recent survey said they never eat junk food and a tiny four per cent claimed that they always eat healthy.
And when we probed further into specific eating habits, things only looked a little bit better.
We asked folks about some of their eating habits as related to the Canada Food Guide. Only six per cent reported they have the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables and nine per cent indicated they consume the suggested amount of grains.
There were 21 per cent of respondents who said they felt they drank the required amount of water, and 81 per cent admitted to eating “too much fried food.”
Why does it appear that we are not eating properly? When asked that question, 73 per cent said eating healthy is expensive and 20 per cent reported their lifestyle gets in the way. Another 14 per cent were not aware of the best choices.
So if our consumption habits are questionable, are we taking other steps to maintain or improve our health? The majority of those surveyed, 67 per cent, said they rarely or never partake in vigorous exercise.
However, 41 per said they had dieted over the past year, including seven per cent who said they took advantage of formal weight-loss programs.
But despite many questionable habits, 83 per cent felt our health is good to excellent.
I guess the question is, how long will that be the case? Will the health-care system be able to manage looking after those of us who fall into ill health because of our lifestyle?
Rick Emberley is senior counsel with the polling firm MQO Research. He has conducted public-opinion research in the region for more than 25 years.
