"Move" is the urgent mantra of health authorities to the public at large in Canada. This has its almost-counterpart in the "MOVE" advice of medical scientists whose salaries and research is now being paid for by Coca-Cola, Pepsi, MacDonald's, Heinz and likely all the major food processors. The difference is that health scientists who work for universities and governments warn the public that their love affair with highly processed foods is inimical for their health and future health prospects, while those working for Coke and MacDonald's claim it doesn't matter what passes your gullet, what matters is exercise; so stuff yourself with quasi-food high in calories and low in nutritional value all you want, just work it all off by vigorous exercise.

A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health is the work of a health economist with the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. Hans Krueger contends from his study that if people all over Canada emulated Vancouverites' lifestyle (excluding the lower EastSide), the Canadian population would be a whole lot healthier. Peoples' life-expectancy could be extended another ten years. British Columbia residents, and particularly those living in Vancouver, have a low rate of obesity, inactivity and smoking. From his study he concludes that the health-care system could gain in excess of $5-billion from a healthier population.

"The food industry, in some ways, is behaving a little bit like the tobacco industry did. It's saying, 'Hey it's not our fault. You need to exercise more and you wouldn't have excess weight'. It's just not true", he states unequivocally.

Our younger son is a Vancouverite, and like many other city dwellers he regularly bicycles to his office from his home. He uses his 15-year-old Nissan truck on those occasions when he leaves the city, and for the most part, he does that when he embarks on one of his weekly alpine hiking, kayaking, canoeing, skiing or camping expeditions somewhere in a day's driving distance of the city.

When he was young we would spend our week-ends hiking, canoeing, berry-picking and swimming in the nearby Gatineau Hills. On summer holidays we'd pack up and head to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, selecting a different mountain climb every day. That experience likely aided in his future career, deciding to attend university to attain a doctorate in biological science. A Vancouver lifestyle suits him perfectly; the city's occupants hugely appreciate their near proximity to an indisputably magnificent landscape.

The more clement weather experienced there, unlike much of the rest of Canada, with excessive heat in the summer and wind, snow and icy conditions in the winter, are largely absent in British Columbia. Moderation in atmosphere and close exposure to the grandeur of nature's geology lends itself to a moderate lifestyle beneficial to its followers.

As for us, we'll remain content with our own outdoor recreational opportunities close at hand. We've accustomed ourselves to the extremes of weather conditions and we endure them while managing to enjoy the more positive aspects of living in a beautiful country with plentiful opportunities to enjoy its lakes and forests and mountains. Mind, the current spate of 30-degree high-humidity days we're undergoing does present a challenge all its own. By the time we've concluded our daily hour's ramble through the forested ravine accessed across the street from our house we're drenched with perspiration and well exercised.

But that's the point, isn't it? Moving, and enjoying our natural surroundings. Choosing not to eat junk food is yet another choice, not a difficult one to make at all.