Rethinking Women and Healthy Living in Canada

Three Centres of Excellence – the BC Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence, and the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health – have followed the developments of the healthy living discourse and federal and provincial healthy living strategies to examine current efforts to promote healthy living in Canada from the perspective of women. [...] The report consists of four parts; (1) the status of women in Canada and the discourse of healthy living; (2) a profile of healthy living among women in Canada; (3) an examination of selected healthy living strategies and practices in Canada and promising gender-sensitive interventions in healthy living for women; and (4) recommendations for future directions in research, policy development, progr. [...] Part One provides background to the overall study, including a brief description of the status of women in Canada and a critical analysis of the discourse of healthy living through the lens of SGBA. [...] While many of the strategies note the importance of factoring in the determinants of health – which include sex and gender – most do not make provisions to address sex and gender as determinants of health, in the measurement of and reporting on progress, or in the formulation of policies and programs. [...] Although the largest proportion of Aboriginal females lives in the three Territories, the Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) have the greatest proportions of Aboriginal females in their populations south of the territories; the greatest number of Aboriginal women and girls lives in Ontario.