Healthy Toronto by Design: Promoting a healthier built environment.

Chronic diseases, obesity and sedentary lifestyles are some of the health challenges facing Canada today. There is increasing recognition and evidence that the way our cities are planned, designed and built can contribute to these problems. Many of the policy levers to address the built environment exist outside the health sector and at the municipal level in areas such as urban planning, transportation, parks and recreation, and housing.

A scripted activity study of the impact of protective advice on personal exposure to ultra-fine and fine particulate matter and volatile organic compounds.

We evaluated the impact on personal exposure to air pollutants of following advice which typically accompanies air quality advisories and indices. Scripts prescribed the time, location, duration and nature of activities intended to simulate daily activity patterns for adults and children. Scripts were paired such that one individual would proceed with usual activities (base scenario), whereas the other (intervention scenario) would alter activities as if following advice.

Anatomy of heat waves and mortality in Toronto: lessons for public health protection.

Background: Periods of unusually hot weather, especially in temperate climates, carry with them a burden of morbidity and mortality, particularly in urban areas. With lessening debate on its origins, and signs of global warming already apparent, it is becoming imperative for public health practitioners to recognize and predict the risks of "heat waves", and to develop protective community responses to them. This study makes use of historical data and a methodology developed previously to examine the pattern of hot weather experienced over the last five decades in the City of Toronto, and to assess the associated burden of mortality.

Should people be physically active outdoors on smog alert days?

Background: Given the importance of physical activity to well-being, there is a need to encourage people to be physically active year-round. At the same time, many people are vulnerable to adverse health effects from air pollution, especially on smog alert days. This study was undertaken to determine when air pollution levels tend to be lowest so that the public can modify strenuous outdoor activity accordingly.