If all Canadians were sufficiently physically active, the savings to the health care system for heart disease alone would be $776 million a year. This estimate is based on a study commissioned from the Conference Board of Canada by the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute.

Realistically, not everyone will become active. But we can surely make a dent in the sedentary portion of our population, two-thirds of which is now insufficiently active for heart health.

This situation is costing us. According to 1993 estimates, the annual direct cost of treating ischemic heart disease amounted to $2.3 billion. These treatment costs include the cost of drugs, physician services, health services and health science research.

One in four Canadians over the age of 65 have heart problems. In this age group, 32,245 men and 35,347 women died from heart and stroke disease in 1993, according to a Statistics Canada report. Among Canadians slightly younger, those aged 45 to 64, 7,207 men and 2,599 women died of heart disease in the same year. Research shows that 25% of these deaths in both age groups were the direct result of sedentary living.

Yet sedentary living is a condition we can do something about, at the individual level no doubt, but also at the corporate, community and governmental levels. It is important for individuals to take action to become more active, but it is not enough. The environment must support their efforts.

Each and everyone of us may request an environment that will encourage us to be physically active and healthy. We can ask that

• communities provide safe and pleasant paths for walking, cycling, roller-skating, etc.;
• workplaces provide the necessary amenities to support physically active commuting, for example, or time during the day to allow us to be physically active at a more convenient time than at the end of a long day;
• governments of all levels have the necessary policies in place to create an environment that supports physical activity.

The benefits are worth the effort, not only for heart health, but for adult-onset diabetes, colon cancer, osteoporosis, hypertension and depression as well. Regular physical activity has a significant impact on our quality of life, and we should strive, as a society, to place it at the centre of our health habits and programs.