http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/01/23/obesity-rates.html

Higher obesity rates found in off-reserve aboriginal people: study
Aboriginal women 19-30 the most overweight group

Last Updated: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 | 11:08 AM ET
CBC News

Aboriginal people living off-reserve are two and a half times more likely
to be overweight than non-aboriginal people, according to Statistics
Canada.

The 2004 study, focusing on Ontario and the western provinces, found that
the main difference was due to higher obesity rates among aboriginal women
aged 19 to 30. Rates for being overweight or obese among aboriginal and
non-aboriginal men were statistically similar.

Off-reserve aboriginal people are more likely to suffer from health
problems such as diabetes, hypertension and arthritis — all conditions that
have been linked to obesity, Statistics Canada noted.

As well, differences between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people in
income, education and leisure-time physical activity may play a role.

Inactivity seemed to have a greater effect on aboriginal people compared to
non-aboriginal people. Among those who were inactive, 50 per cent of
off-reserve aboriginal people were obese, compared with 23 per cent of
non-aboriginal people.

Aboriginal women aged 19 to 30 consumed more daily calories compared with
non-aboriginal women by 359 calories, the study found.

Their junk food consumption was also greater, making up more than 35 per
cent of their calorie intake, compared with 24 per cent for non-aboriginal
women. Aboriginal women also ate more junk food between meals, the study
found.

Life expectancy lower in Inuit-inhabited areas

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada also released data from a 2001 study about
life expectancy in Inuit-inhabited areas of Canada.

The study found that in the Inuvialuit region (of Northwest Territories),
Nunavut, Nunatsiavut (Labrador) and Nunavik (northern Quebec), life
expectancy was over 12 years less than for Canada as a whole, a gap that
had widened during the previous decade.

In 1991, life expectancy in the Inuit-inhabited areas was about 68 years,
compared with 78 for Canada as a whole, the study revealed. From 1991 to
2001, life expectancy in the Inuit-inhabited areas did not increase,
although life expectancy rose by about two years for Canada overall.

Among the four areas, life expectancy was generally highest in the
Inuvialuit region and Nunavut, followed by Nunatsiavut and Nunavik.

The study found lower levels of education and income and poorer housing
conditions for the Inuit-inhabited areas compared with Canada as a whole.

"Any or all of these, in addition to lifestyle risk factors and
environmental conditions, could be at least partly responsible for the
lower life expectancy in those areas," the study reported.