A new study puts Windsor and Essex County in the top 25 healthiest communities in Canada.
The interactive map, created by The 10 and 3, combines seven health indicators from Statistics Canada’s 2013 Health Profile: asthma, diabetes, cancer, smoking, access to doctors, overweight population and mental health.
Windsor and Essex County ranks 22nd, according to the data. The area is doing well in everything except for diabetes and the overweight population among the indicators used for the study. But the data used didn’t take into account several health issues where Windsor is known to struggle: high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease and strokes, hospital wait times, and certain cancers.
“Realistically, another group could come out with the exact same title, using seven different criteria, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we were in the bottom 10 per cent,” said Coun. Rino Bortolin, who has advocated for a more active and healthy community.
“The basics of the kids walking to school, the people walking to work, the amount of people that are riding their bikes — if you go to any sort of event, how many bikes are locked up outside versus how many cars are parked in the parking lot. All those things are what to me contribute to the mentality of a healthier society,” he said.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit also highlighted the difficulties in measuring a community’s health because there are so many factors to consider, explained communication co-ordinator Marc Tortolla.
“While this story highlights seven health indicators, there are several other important factors that were excluded,” he wrote in an email. “Examples of these are falls and injuries, communicable diseases, poverty, substance misuse, oral health, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and fruits and vegetable consumption, to name a few.”
Windsor and Essex County’s top 25 ranking was much higher than neighbouring Chatham-Kent, which had a rank of 58 out of 101 regions, according to the study.
Middlesex-London ranked just slightly below Windsor, at 26th. Hamilton was 43rd.
Swaths of Northern Ontario and rural parts of the Prairies fared much worse, with rankings in the 60s and up.
The seven chosen indicators were combined, each weighted equally, to develop the “composite health rank” — where in the list of regions that communities fall.
“We didn’t want to just pick everything and throw it in a bag together,” said Arik Motskin, one of the piece’s creators. He said the indicators were chosen carefully to include ones with data collected across the country and avoid duplication.
For example, he said places with a high smoking rate also tend to have a high drinking rate. The study only included smoking to avoid health factors that have strong correlations.
He said that was the reason it only used the rate of overweight population — which doesn’t include people who are obese. Obesity has a high correlation with the rate of diabetes, which Motskin said would have meant the measures were duplicated. When you include people who are either overweight or obese, Windsor is well above the national average. With just the rate of people who are overweight, the region is only slightly higher than average.
Motskin added that since the long-form census was discontinued, many of the measures they wanted to include didn’t have enough local-level detail to be compared across the country.
Bortolin said no matter what the data shows, the way to a healthier community is to encourage activity as part of daily life — not just for fun. And even then, Windsor and Essex County ranks lower than the national average for leisure-time physical activity.
“We view walking or running or riding our bikes as a leisurely activity,” he said. “We don’t see it as part as our regular day.”
How does Windsor rank?
Asthma — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s asthma rate (6.1 per cent) is lower than the Canadian average (8.3 per cent)
Diabetes — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s diabetes rate (9.7 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (6.3 per cent)
Cancer rate — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s cancer incidence rate (401.7 per 100,000 people) is lower than the Canadian average (404.9 per 100,000 people)
Smoking rate — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s daily smoking rate (12.3 per cent) is lower than the Canadian average (15.3 per cent)
Access to doctors — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s access to medical doctors (92.5 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (84.9 per cent)
Overweight — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s overweight population (35.6 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (34 per cent)
Mental health — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s good perceived mental health (73.5 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (72.2 per cent)
Source: The 10 and 3, using data from Statistics Canada
Our performance for measures not in the study
Overweight or obese — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s overweight or obese population (56.7 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (52.3 per cent)
High blood pressure — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s high blood pressure rate (19.3 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (17.5 per cent)
Pain or discomfort — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s pain or discomfort that prevents activities (17.5 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (14.7 per cent)
Injury hospitalization — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s injury hospitalization (379 per 100,000 people) is lower than the Canadian average (516 per 100,000 people)
Leisure-time physical activity — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s leisure-time physical activity five or more times a day (51.7 per cent are moderately active or active) is lower than the Canadian average (53.8 per cent are moderately active or active)
Fruit and vegetable consumption — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s consumption of fruit and vegetables five or more times a day (34.4 per cent) is lower than the Canadian average (40.5 per cent)
Flu immunization — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s influenza immunization (35.6 per cent) is higher than the Canadian average (29.6 per cent)
Wait time for hip fracture surgery — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s wait time for hip fracture surgery (67.4 proportion with surgery within 48 hours) is lower than the Canadian average (81.1 proportion with surgery within 48 hours)
Hospitalization for hip fractures — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s hospitalized hip fracture event rate (489 per 100,000 people) is higher than the Canadian average (435 per 100,000 people)
Deaths from circulatory diseases — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s deaths from circulatory diseases (194.8 per 100,000 people) is higher than the Canadian average (157.3 per 100,000 people)
Deaths from respiratory diseases — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s deaths from respiratory diseases (41 per 100,000 people) is lower than the Canadian average (45 per 100,000 people)
Deaths from suicides or self-inflicted injuries — better
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s deaths from suicides or self-inflicted injuries (8.2 per 100,000 people) is lower than the Canadian average (10.2 per 100,000 people)
Hysterectomies — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s rate of hysterectomies (429 per 100,000 people) is higher than the Canadian average (320 per 100,000 people)
Premature mortality — worse
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s premature mortality rate (270.9 per 100,000 people) is higher than the Canadian average (251.7 per 100,000 people)
Source: Statistics Canada 2013 Canadian Community Health Survey
