Health Reports
A Canadian peer-reviewed journal of population health and health services research
August 2022
The influence of removing the 10-minute bout requirement on the demographic, behaviour and health profiles of Canadian adults who meet the physical activity recommendations
by Stephanie A. Prince, Karen C. Roberts, Justin J. Lang, Gregory P. Butler and Rachel C. Colley
Regular physical activity (PA) can prevent many chronic conditions and premature all-cause mortality. PA guidelines help to promote healthy targets and support policy frameworks and public health action. Until recently, adult PA recommendations in Canada, the United States and internationally, called for a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) accrued in bouts of 10 minutes or more. This threshold was established based on evidence suggesting that a minimum of 150 minutes of MVPA per week is needed to reduce chronic disease risk. Recently the United States, Canada and the World Health Organization (WHO) released updated PA recommendations (Canada and WHO in combination with 24-hour movement behaviour guidelines), which maintain the recommendation of ≥ 150 minutes per week of MVPA, but remove the requirement of 10-minute bouts. This is consistent with the messaging that any amount of MVPA counts.
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Risk of non-medical drug overdose following prescription of opioids after injury: A retrospective cohort study
- Clarke J, Colley R, Janssen I, Tremblay MS. Accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of Canadian adults, 2007 to 2017. Health Reports 2019; 30(8): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x201900800001-eng
- Rollo, S, Lang JJ, Roberts KC, Bang F, Carson V, Chaput J, Colley RC, Janssen I, Tremblay MS. Health associations with meeting the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for adults: Results from the Canadian Health Measures Survey. Health Reports 2022; 33(1): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202200100002-eng
- Doyon CY, Colley RC, Clarke J, Janseen I, Timmons BW, Tomkinson GR, Tremblay MS, Lang JL. Trends in physical fitness among Canadian adults, 2007 to 2017. Health Reports 2021; 32(11): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202101100001-eng
Profiles of mental health and their association with negative impacts and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Canadian perspective
by Michelle D. Guerrero and Joel D. Barnes
Many Canadians have experienced worse mental health since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, 38% of survey respondents in Canada indicated a deterioration in mental health since COVID-19 began. Identified emotional challenges linked with deterioration in mental health included feeling anxious and worried (46%), sad (26%), stressed (37%), and lonely (30%). Furthermore, fewer Canadian adults reported high self-perceived mental health in 2020 (60%) than in 2019 (67%). The proportion of Canadians (15 years and older) who indicated that their mental health was “very good” or “excellent” decreased by 14% from 2018 (68%) to 2020 (54%). Data from eight Canadian provinces revealed that the prevalence of major depressive disorder during the fall of 2020 (16%) was more than two times higher compared with the years (2015 to 2019) predating COVID-19 (7%). Other national data showed that the percentage of adults with self-reported depression more than doubled (4% versus 10%), and the number of adults who indicated that their anxiety was “high to extremely high” quadrupled since the onset of the pandemic (5% versus 20%).
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Profiles of mental health and their association with negative impacts and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Canadian perspective
- Findlay LC, Arim R, Kohen D. Understanding the perceived mental health of Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Reports 2020; 31(4): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202000400003-eng
- Liu L, Pollock NJ, Contreras G, Tonmyr L, Thompson W. Prevalence of suicidal ideation among adults in Canada: Results of the second Survey on COVID-19 and mental health. Health Reports 2022; 33(5): DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202200500002-eng
Sex differences in suicide mortality in Newfoundland and Labrador: An observational study with medical examiner data from 1997 to 2016
by Margo M. Wilson, Nathaniel J. Pollock, Nicole D. Power, Yordan Karaivanov, Shree Mulay, and Charlene Reccord
Globally, the suicide rate is two times higher for males than for females,1 though this disparity varies by region and country. In Canada, the suicide rate was three times higher among males than females in 2019 (18.5 versus 5.9 suicide deaths per 100,000), and males accounted for 76% of all suicide deaths. Among provinces and territories, the average male-to-female rate ratios (RRs) ranged from 2.6 to 6.7 during the 2000-to-2019 period and were highest in Nunavut and the Atlantic provinces. In Newfoundland and Labrador, previous studies found that 83% of suicide deaths were among males, and the male-to-female ratio was 4.8 and 4.9 to 1..
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Correlates of vaping among adolescents in Canada
- Morrison KB, Laing L. Adults’ use of health services in the year before death by suicide in Alberta. Health Reports 2011; 22(3): 15
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