Canada leads in combating SARS

"Bowling for Columbine’, the controversial Oscar-winning documentary of American Michael Moore was re-released in Canadian theaters last week and is still doing brisk business. Many thought that it was an American production but in reality was financed and produced by Toronto-based Alliance Atlantis Entertainment. When first released last year, it made US$19 million in North America and $300 million worldwide.

"Bowling" is now the highest-grossing documentary of all time in the world’s largest English-language markets: the US, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The documentary is very critical of American politics, ideas, violence and ideologies. Moore’s outspoken confidence that he had the backing of Canadian financing hopefully will not strain the relationship between Canada and the US.

Here’s a hairy story. According to a new poll centered on hair, nearly 50 percent of Canadian women rate their hair more important to their appearance than their skin, make-up and scent. And some 40 percent of respondents stated that the biggest contributor to their self-image is the time they spend with friends and family, followed by learning new things (34 percent) and making a difference in the community (23 percent).

The poll confirmed once again the cultural divide between English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians. Another piece of trivia that we learned was that French-Canadian women are nearly 30 percent more likely to spend 20 minutes or more on their hair than anglophone women.

Canada is now being acclaimed as an international model in combating the much-dreaded SARS disease. Some health experts claim that the extensive measures that Ontario implemented to control the ailment could eventually make Canada safer from SARS than any place in the world. Ten people died in Canada from the disease, most of them elderly and all suffering from other medical problems that made them more vulnerable to the deadly virus. Ontario officials stated that the numbers are in line with expectations at this point in the outbreak, and suggested that the disease is now coming under control.

The SARS scare definitely affected Toronto’s Chinatown business (down by 80 percent) and some Chinese-Canadian groups complained that they have been target of racism and stereotyping. To assure that everything is under control, Prime Minister Jean Chretien dined at a popular Toronto Chinese restaurant to lend support to the sagging businesses and to deliver a message of tolerance.

Obesity or "globesity" is a worldwide problem and Canada was rated as the fifth fattest country in the world. According to Statistics Canada, an estimated 32 per cent of Canadian adults are overweight. In comparison 31 percent of the American population is either overweight or obese. Could it be that we’re so busy with our jobs that we have no time for healthy home cooking, physical exercise and family activities?

Some Canadian doctors explained that the changing economy dictates the way we live. And we equate leisure time with lazy time. The end result is doing nothing, we sacrifice our health and carry excess body fat. Of course there are many other reasons why we get fat. Canadians they say are trimmer than Americans, British, Australians and New Zealanders.

In terms of economics, the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute reported that in Canada, the more you earn, the more you weight. More than a third or all people with a household income between $80,000 and $100,000 are overweight compared to a quarter of those in other income brackets.

As for eating habits, it is quite ironic. Canadians have turned to a low-fat diet, eating blander, "safer" foods to reduce fat intake without cutting out their favorites. But without fat to trigger feelings of anxiety and guilt, we’re consuming larger servings of low-fat products, thus collecting more calories.

Bad news for women, I read somewhere that the kind of fat that women accumulate is slower to respond to diet and exercise.

It’s nice to know that due to the level of education and experience required, a number of occupations have an above average proportion of workers aged 55 and over, such as the judiciary, metallurgical engineers, specially physicians and university professors.