Editorial – The weight of our nation

摘要

Canadians spent an estimated $228 billion on health care in 2016. That represents 11.1% of our total economy, or $6,299 per person. Almost 40% of all public expenditures are allocated to fund health care ^{Footnote 1} . Put succinctly, that is a lot of money! This issue of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada places a spotlight on three diseases that contribute to this economic burden of health care in Canada.Pelletier and coauthors ^{Footnote 2} estimate that 700 000 Canadians report symptoms consistent with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and that 30% of these individuals’ needs for health care are not being met. Amankwah and colleagues ^{Footnote 3} estimate that 99 000 Canadians were living with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2011 and that this number will increase to 134 000 by 2031. Estimated health care and out-of-pocket costs attributable to MS in 2011 were $1.48 billion.Bilandzic and Rosella ^{Footnote 4} calculate that 2 156 000 new cases of diabetes will be diagnosed in Canada during the 10-year period between 2011/12 and 2021/22, with attributable health care costs of $15.36 billion, or $7,124 per individual with diabetes. They further calculate that 283 000 cases of diabetes and $2.03 billion in costs could be avoided if the average body weight of Canadians were reduced by 5%.