Life habits

Alcohol use and the many social and health issues associated with it are public health concerns. The impact of alcohol depends primarily on the total volume of alcohol consumed and the pattern of drinking, particularly drinking a large quantity on a single occasion (WHO, 2009).

This work has allowed us to develop a current profile of binge drinking among youth in Québec who drink alcohol and to examine the trends and changes over time in this consumption pattern from 2000 to 2012.…

Electronic cigarettes are new devices with which users mimic the gestures and produce the feeling of smoking without exposing themselves to the toxic by-products of tobacco combustion. While many experts consider them to be a less harmful alternative for smokers' health than conventional cigarettes, others are concerned that they could renormalize smoking and provide a gateway to conventional cigarettes for young people.

This study is one of the first to assess electronic cigarette…

Highlights :

This study provides, for the first time, a profile of the health burden linked to different categories of body weight (underweight, overweight and obesity) among adults 18 years of age or over for the province of Québec. Based on different indicators of physical and mental health drawn from survey data, it describes the proportion and number of men and women who report suffering from specific health problems according to their weight category. The study also identifies the degree to…

This briefing note introduces the road diet, an engineering technique that reallocates space on a street or road for other uses when they are over-built and have excess lanes. In what follows, we will present a definition, some study results and practical implementation considerations for road diets.

When applied with consideration for contextual details, it is generally agreed that road diets provide significant safety benefits for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.

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This document is the final one in a series of five documents based on a literature review published in 2011. The four previous documents compared the effects of two approaches to urban traffic calming – the black-spots approach and the area-wide approach – on four determinants of health: road safety, air quality, environmental noise and active transportation. In this document, we will examine the effects of these same two approaches (described below) on health inequalities. This will enable…

Physical activity and sedentary living are important public health issues. Several studies have revealed links between various features of the built environment and physical activity. In order to develop a profile, better understand the impacts of built environment features, and better direct interventions on the creation of built environments that are conducive to physical activity, using the best information available is essential. The aim of this TOPO is to outline the main methods for…

Obesity and overweight are risk factors linked to the appearance of a number of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, obesity also has an economic impact. Indeed, studies that have quantified the economic burden of obesity in Canada and abroad observe that the problem engenders significant costs for society. Such costs are not confined to those stemming from broader recourse to health services. Costs related to absenteeism, disability and other productivity…

In early adolescence, young people adopt lifestyle habits that could play a determining role in their future health. At this early age, they begin to develop their independence, while continuing to be influenced by their sociocultural environment. Sociocultural factors have an impact on eating habits and physical activity, and this is even more true in adolescence when youth are in the process of learning and experimenting.

The results of the Ados 12-14 study (see box, page 3) show…

The publication of the second issue in the “Youth Smoking Survey” (YSS) series in 2010 showed the trends in cigarette and cigar or cigarillo use among students in Québec in 2006-2007 (Lasnier and Cantinotti, 2010). The purpose of this document is to update the smoking profile of Secondary 1 to 5 students using data collected in 2008-2009 and 2010-2011. Indicators are presented for the proportion of students who smoked cigarettes in the 30 days preceding the survey, the proportion of…