Canadian Community Health Survey and Institute Clinical Evaluative Sciences

cardiovascular risk factors: Maria Chiu, lead author of the study, according to The Waterloo Record. Based on the multi-year Canadian Community Health Survey, the study examined the prevalence of these self-reported risk factors among 220,000 adult participants from the white, black, Chinese and South Asian communities between 2001 and 2012. Researchers blame the increase on a dramatic rise in risk factors for these groups, including smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. "Our findings suggest that cardiovascular risk factor profiles are worsening at different rates for different ethnic groups, and with more than a decade worth of data, we are able to show for the first time that general trends don't apply to all ethnic groups," said Dr. The study from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, to be published Monday in the BMJ Open Journal, is the first in Canada to look at ethnic-specific trends of cardiovascular risk factors over time. The study attributes the trends in part to changes in health behaviour and cultural practices, as well as adoption of western lifestyles and diet among immigrants. The study, co-authored by Chiu, Laura C. Maclagan, Jack V. Tu and Baiju R. Shah, found: • The rate of diabetes for South Asian males more than doubled from 6.7 per cent to 15.2 per cent; and from 6.3 per cent to 15.2 per cent among black females. • While obesity rates grew for all groups in the study period, it doubled for Chinese males and rose by 72 per cent for black males. • Although smoking dropped by more than 20 per cent among South Asian, Chinese and white women, it went up by 6.8 per cent for Chinese males and 11.6 per cent for black women. • White and South Asian groups reportedly engaged in more daily physical activity, but activity levels remained unchanged for their Chinese and black counterparts. • The proportion of South Asian men with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables increased drastically, suggesting a progressively "poorer" diet. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.