We're thinner and we drive less

B.C. outscoring nearby states in

health and longevity

By Jeff Nagel

BLACK PRESS

We live longer. Drive less. Burn less fuel. And we're not as fat.
On a series of measures, British Columbians outperform Americans who live in the nearby U.S. states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, according to a report that will be released today (Wednesday).
The Cascadia Scorecard, published by the Seattle-based Sightline Institute to track trends in the region, links RC.'s gains on several fronts to the trend toward more dense, compact and walkable neighbourhoods that's on the rise in Greater Vancouver. .
"Sprawling land-use patterns not only promote sedentary lifestyles but also expose residents to elevated risk of injury or death in car crashes," the report concludes. "Sprawl can be hazardous to health." Among the fmdings:
.12% of RC.'s population is obese, compared to 21 % in the northwest U.S. states, where obesity is rising four times as fast.
. B.C. residents spend less time driving in cars and don't die in crashes as often. We drive an aver-

age of 8,300 kilometres per year and our rate of auto crash deaths is the lowest in Cascadia (the northwest U.S. plus B.C.).
. More Vancouverites (72%) live in compact neighbourhoods than in six other major Pacific Northwest cities. .
It all adds up to people living longer, healthier lives north of the border.
As of 2005, British Columbians reached a life expectancy of 81.1 years. That's up three years since 1990 and it's significantly higher than the 78.8 year average in the U.S. states.
The main author of the report, Sightline research director Clark Williams-Derry, admits there are other factors behind B.C.'s healthier record.
He said Canada's universal health care system is a key difference that separates B.C. from the U.S. and improves life expectancies.
Immigration is another possibility.
"The province has welcomed many new wealthy (and healthy) Asian immigrants over the past several decades, which may have boosted the province's longevity statistics," the report says. "British Columbia also has lower infant mortality rates and fewer homicides than its southern neighbours." Still,. it says, no single factor or combination of them fully explains the longer life expectancy here.
Instead, Williams-Derry looks to B.C.'s "relatively strong" record in containing urban sprawl.

"Places where you have to drive a lot are places where you have high levels of car crashes and low levels of walking or biking for exercise," he said.
Williams-Derry pointed to one study that looked at Seattle's King County and found people who live in the least walkable suburbs tend to weigh about seven pounds more.
He admits it's less clear to what extent a more walk able neighbourhood makes its residents healthier, or whether healthier people simply tend to choose to live in more walkable neighbourhoods. But he argues the trend is too compelling to ignore.

OTHER FINDINGS

. The average B.C. family has 1.4 children, the fewest in the northwest. The institute says a small family size generally means better overall educational and economic opportunities for women, especially the young or poor.
. B.C.'s teen birth rate is about one-third that of the nearby U.S. states.
. The average B.C. resident uses 42litres of fuel per week for transport and electricity compared to 59litres per person in the northwestern U.S.
. Car crashes have become the leading cause of death in people under 45 in the Cascadia region.
Some 2,000 die in car crashes each year and there have been 50,00 deaths in car accidents since 1980.