B.C. males are the most healthy in the nation, but more than half are deemed unhealthy

A new study suggests that B.C. is home to the healthiest men in the nation, but don’t start celebrating your achievements yet.

Despite being named #1 in overall health, over two-thirds of the province’s men are considered to be living an unhealthy lifestyle.

As part of Canadian Men’s Health Week, the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation (CMHF) released a study which surveyed 2,000 Canadian men between the ages of 19 and 94 to reveal that 72% of Canadian men are deemed unhealthy, compared to the 67.5% of men in B.C.

The study evaluated men on five habits that contribute to a healthy lifestyle and prevent chronic disease: diet, sleep, exercise, smoking and alcohol abuse.

By regularly demonstrating more than three of the behaviours, participants were deemed unhealthy (42%), participants exhibiting two were tallied as borderline (31%), one meant participants were healthy (22%) and those select few that reported they exhibited none of the unhealthy behaviours were judged to be very healthy (6%).

Wayne Hartrick, President of the CMHF, noted that it is easy to improve one's health and move between categories.

“Think of these categories as a ladder. Most Canadian men can move up a rung by changing just one unhealthy behaviour,” said Hartrick.

“They can go up two rungs by changing two behaviours, like eating five fist-sized servings of fruit and getting seven hours of sleep.”

To see how your lifestyle stacks up to others in the province, or in the nation, take the test on the CMHF website.