Instructional &
Informational Posts
Just like it’s easier to see what’s wrong with your friend’s relationship than your own, it’s often easier to see what’s wrong with a country’s health as opposed to our own native land. Time to remove our blinders and see how other countries are living well; perhaps learning a thing or two that we can incorporate into our own tuja-inspired lifestyles.
The Danish government has big plans for the future of its country. It has established a fat tax on all items with saturated fat, and the amount of tax is relative to the amount of fat. This is in the hope that they can increase the life expectancy of Danish people by 3 years in the next 10 years. Life expectancy plans can make all other governmental initiatives seem somewhat trivial. New subway line or see your grandchildren get married?
This is not to say that Denmark is not trying to make up for the mistakes of their past. Although Danish food was largely built on the traditions of its peasant population, it has since fallen victim to the increasing availability of Western fast food. Heavy meats, cheeses and high smoking rates have put Denmark on the World Health Organization map as having the highest cancer rates in the world. Yikes.
However, in Copenhagen, you’ll notice the aspect of Danish people’s living that is unquestionably healthy. Bike paths are everywhere, and the respect for bikers is more apparent than in most cities since most people are themselves bikers. Just about every street has a bike path and with flat roads it’s an easy and economical choice for transportation. If a bike path is available, it’s a requirement by law that the path is used rather than the road, meaning there is more transportation harmony. People in cars and people on bikes really can get along, a relationship that is not so well integrated in Canada.
In Canada, we must realize that it’s not always the cyclist’s, nor the driver’s fault. It could be the government. The more we lose bike lanes, the more we must share space. And in heaving urban centres, this is not so easy to do. Until we rally for our bike lanes, stop the eye rolling and come to peace with the fact the people have different means to get around. If the Danes can do it, so can we.
The government in Denmark supports bikers wholeheartedly. In fact, there are separate traffic lights for cyclists. All bicycles have bells to warn that they are passing on the left. And it’s good to follow the bike rules, as the Danish City Council has another goal (perhaps to aid the lofty life expectancy goal): to have half of the Danish population riding their bikes to work by 2015. It’s certainly optimistic, to take one bad statistic and attempt to turn it on its head.
We can learn from this. Rather than thinking, “Woe is me” about health, we can choose to get active and proactive, one commute at a time.
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Courtney Sunday has two cats and a boyfriend who are very patient with her health and wellness obsessions. She teaches yoga, Pilates and indoor cycling and gives Thai massages through her Toronto business Om at Home Yoga. When she's tuckered out, she takes up the sport of sleeping.
