Census metropolitan area of Halifax, Nova Scotia

In 2011-2012, residents aged 12 and over of the Halifax census metropolitan area (CMA), reported information related to their health in the Canadian Community Health Survey. A selection of health indicators that provide data for this CMA appear below. The data are also compared to the data for Nova Scotia and for Canada (i.e. the national average).

Comparisons indicate if the difference between estimates is statistically significant (p < 0.05). “Higher” means the difference observed is significantly higher, “lower” means the difference is significantly lower and “similar” means the difference is not statistically significant.

Well-being

• Perceived health, very good or excellent: 61.6%; higher than Nova Scotia (57.8%); and similar to the national average (59.9%).
• Perceived mental health, very good or excellent: 73.7%; similar to Nova Scotia (71.8%); and similar to the national average (72.2%).
• Perceived life stress, quite a lot (15 years and over): 19.5%; similar to Nova Scotia (18.2%); and lower than the national average (23.2%).

Health conditions

• High blood pressure: 17.7%; lower than Nova Scotia (22.6%); and similar to the national average (17.5%).
• Diabetes: 6.9%; lower than Nova Scotia (8.6%); and similar to the national average (6.3%).
• Body mass index, self-reported, adult (18 years and over), overweight: 37.9%; similar to Nova Scotia (36.5%); and similar to the national average (34.0%).
• Body mass index, self-reported, adult (18 years and over), overweight or obese: 57.1%; lower than Nova Scotia (60.8%); and higher than the national average (52.3%).
• Body mass index, self-reported, adult (18 years and over), obese: 19.2%; lower than Nova Scotia (24.3%); and similar to the national average (18.3%).

Health behaviours

• Fruit and vegetable consumption, 5 times or more per day: 38.2%; higher than Nova Scotia (34.0%); and similar to the national average (40.5%).
• Physical activity during leisure-time, moderately active or active: 57.6%; higher than Nova Scotia (53.8%); and similar to the national average (53.8%).
• 5 or more drinks on one occasion, at least once a month in the past year: 24.9%; higher than Nova Scotia (21.3%); and higher than the national average (18.2%).
• Current smoker, daily or occasional: 22.8%; similar to Nova Scotia (22.8%); and similar to the national average (20.1%).

Environmental factors

• Exposure to second-hand smoke at home: 3.5%;^{Note 1} lower than Nova Scotia (5.7%); and similar to the national average (5.1%).
• Exposure to second-hand smoke in the past month, in vehicles: 6.5%;^{Note 1} similar to Nova Scotia (7.9%); and similar to the national average (6.4%).

Personal resources

• Life satisfaction, satisfied or very satisfied: 94.7%; higher than Nova Scotia (92.9%); and higher than the national average (92.3%).
• Sense of belonging to local community, somewhat strong or very strong: 66.3%; lower than Nova Scotia (71.2%); and similar to the national average (65.4%).

Related summary table

Health indicator profile by census metropolitan area, two-year period estimates (Halifax (N.S.))

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Notes

CMA: Area consisting of one or more neighbouring municipalities situated around a core. A census metropolitan area must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more live in the core.

1. Use with caution: data with a coefficient of variation (CV) from 16.6% to 33.3%
2. Data with a coefficient of variation (CV) greater than 33.3% are suppressed due to extreme sampling variability and are too unreliable to be published.