A Canadian arrived in Australia last week and has formed the opinion
that Canadians are, on average, fitter, healthier and better looking
than Australians. I would like to know if she is correct.

Please concentrate on the fitness aspect. Ideally I would like
official figures on what percentage of people in each country play
sport, visit the gym or exercise by running/walking/cycling.

If there is a fitter country than Australia or Canada (New Zealand?),
knowing which would be nice as well.

Hi,

I checked with Statistics Canada and the Australian Bureau of
Statistics and was able to find the following data.

Australia Exercise:

Two-thirds of persons aged 15 years and over reported taking part in
some type of exercise for sport, recreation or fitness in the two
weeks prior to interview; this represents a small increase since
1989-90.

Walking was the most commonly reported activity by those who exercised
in the fortnight prior to interview (73%). The majority of those who
walked for exercise (93%) reported an average duration of one hour or
more per session.
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/e8ae5488b598839cca25682000131612/cac1a34167e36be3ca2568a900139364!OpenDocument

Newer data on page 28 of this report shows that close to 50% of adults
report to have been active between 1997-2000.
http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/ah02/ah02-c03.pdf

Canada Exercise:

This graph shows the number of Canadians by age group who exercised
regularly 1998-1999.

This graph shows the percentage of Canadians by age group who
exercised regularly 1998-1999.

The United Nations does not rate fitness, but for overall health
according to their statistics, Canada and Australia are equal.
http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/info.asp?theme=hea&id1=124&id2=36&id3=999&id4=999&id5=999

There are many excellent resources to expand this answer at
http://library.frankston.vic.gov.au/index.asp?doc_display.asp?document_id=329.

By looking at the two data sets I have sent you, it seems that
Canadians are more fit by your definition of who exercises more.

Age    Australians  Canadians (% who exercise)
18-29        32        64
30-44        48        59
45-59        52        60
60+          45        53

I hope this helps.
Lisaradha

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Request for Answer Clarification by robertskelton-ga on 28 Jul 2002 14:47 PDT

Could you please give the links to the Canadian data - the two graphs.

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Clarification of Answer by lisaradha-ga on 28 Jul 2002 16:39 PDT

I sincerely apologize, I had the links in my original answer that I
typed in word and I did not transfer them to the google screen, here
they are. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience I may have caused
you.

Here is the link for 1996-1997
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/cyb1999/health/tab6.htm

and the links for 1998-1999
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/People/Health/health19b.htm
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/People/Health/health19a.htm

Lisaradha

Thanks lisaradha-ga! I had my fingers crossed for Australia, but am
now in shock at how fit the Canadians must be. At least I can pretend
that Aussies are better looking.