Breadcrumb
- Home
- Healthy Eating & Physical Activity
- Active For Health
- For Health Care Professionals
- Metabolic Conditions
Content Map Terms
Healthy Eating & Physical Activity Categories
-
Active for Health
-
Age and Stage
-
Infants, Children and Youth
- Child Who Is Overweight: Evaluating Nutrition and Activity Patterns
- Child Who Is Overweight: Medical Evaluation
- Eczema and Food Allergy in Babies and Young Children
- Feeding Your Baby: Sample Meals for Babies 6 to 12 Months of Age
- Food Allergy Testing
- HealthLink BC Eating and Activity Program for Kids
- Healthy Eating for Children
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Your Vegetarian Baby: 6-12 months
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Your Vegetarian Toddler: 1-3 years
- Helping Your Child Who Is Overweight
- Interactive Tool: What Is Your Child's BMI?
- Iron-Fortified Infant Cereal Recipes: Finger Foods For Babies and Toddlers
- Mealtime and Your Toddler
- Parenting Babies (0-12 months)
- Reducing Risk of Food Allergy in Your Baby
- Snack Ideas for Preschoolers
- Your Toddler: Nutritious Meals for Picky Eaters
- Physical Activity for Infants, Children and Youth
- Older Adults
- Pregnancy
- Menopause and Perimenopause
-
Infants, Children and Youth
-
Being Active
- Health Benefits of Physical Activity
- SMART Goal Setting
-
Getting Started
- Getting Started: Adding More Physical Activity to Your Life
- Quick Tips: Fitting Physical Activity Into Your Day
- Quick Tips: Getting Active as a Family
- Fitness: Adding More Activity To Your Life
- Getting Started With Flexibility and Exercise
- Fitness Machines
- Fitness Clothing and Gear
- The Three Types of Physical Activity
- Overcoming Barriers: Adding More Physical Activity to your Life
-
Choosing Your Activity
- How to Choose Safe Equipment
- Exercising While Sitting Down
- Fitness DVDs and Videos
- Tips for Picking the Right Activities
- Quick Tips: Getting in Shape Without Spending Money
- Fitness: Walking for Wellness
- Walk Your Way To Health
- Tai Chi and Qi Gong
- Water Exercise
- Yoga
- Bob's Story: Biking for Health
- Exercise and Physical Activity Ideas
- Fitness: Choosing Activities That Are Right for You
-
Staying Active
- Fitness: Getting and Staying Active
- Fitness: Making It a Habit
- Quick Tips: Having Enough Energy to Stay Active
- Quick Tips: Staying Active at Home
- Quick Tips: Staying Active When You Travel
- Physical Activity in Winter
- Quick Tips: Staying Active in Cold Weather
- Quick Tips: Staying Active in Hot Weather
- Injury Prevention and Recovery
- Fitness and Exercise Learning Centre
-
Conditions
- Diabetes and Hypoglycemia
- Eating Disorders
- Healthy Eating for Disease Prevention
- Eating Right When You Have More Than One Health Problem
- Being Active When You Have Health Problems
- Physical Activity and Disease Prevention
- Anemia
- Arthritis and Osteoporosis
- Physiotherapy for Low Back Pain
- Low Back Pain: Exercises to Reduce Pain
- Cancer
-
Digestive
- Managing Constipation in Adults
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People with Diverticular Disease
- Fibre and Your Health
- Lower Fibre Food Choices
- Eating Guidelines For Gallbladder Disease
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Lactose Intolerance
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People with Peptic Ulcers
- Bowel Disease: Changing Your Diet
- Celiac Disease: Eating a Gluten-Free Diet
- GERD: Controlling Heartburn by Changing Your Habits
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Controlling Symptoms with Diet
- Food Allergies
-
Heart
- Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Coronary Artery Disease: Exercising for a Healthy Heart
- DASH Diet Sample Menu
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People Taking Warfarin Anticoagulants
- Healthy Eating to Lower High Blood Pressure
- Exercising to Prevent a Stroke
- Healthy Diet Guidelines for a Healthy Heart
- Heart Arrhythmias and Exercise
- Heart Failure: Eating a Healthy Diet
- Heart Failure: Track Your Weight, Food and Sodium
- Heart-Healthy Eating
- Heart-Healthy Eating: Fish and Fish Oil
- Heart-Healthy Lifestyle
- High Blood Pressure: Nutrition Tips
- High Cholesterol: How a Dietitian Can Help
- Modify Recipes for a Heart-Healthy Diet
- Plant-based Diet Guidelines
- Peripheral Arterial Disease and Exercise
- Physical Activity Helps Prevent a Heart Attack and Stroke
- High Blood Pressure: Using the DASH Diet
- Healthy Eating: Eating Heart-Healthy Foods
- Heart Health: Walking for a Healthy Heart
- Izzy's Story: Living with the DASH Diet
- Exercise and Fibromyalgia
-
Kidney and Liver
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for People with Early Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Stages 1 and 2
- Healthy Eating Guidelines for Prevention of Recurrent Kidney Stones
- Healthy Eating for Chronic Hepatitis
- Kidney Disease: Changing Your Diet
- Kidney Stones: Preventing Kidney Stones Through Diet
- Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
- Lupus: Healthy Eating
- Mutiple Sclerosis
- Parkinson's Disease and Exercise
- Sally's Story: Avoiding Metabolic Syndrome
- Spinal Cord
-
Food and Nutrition
- About Healthy Eating
-
Eating Habits
- Developing a Plan for Healthy Eating
- Drinking Enough Water
- Eating Journal
- Emotional Eating
- Food Journaling: How to Keep Track of What You Eat
- Healthy Eating: Changing Your Eating Habits
- Healthy Eating: Getting Support When Changing Your Eating Habits
- Healthy Eating: Making Healthy Choices When You Eat Out
- Healthy Eating: Making Healthy Choices When You Shop
- Healthy Eating: Overcoming Barriers to Change
- Healthy Eating: Starting a Plan for Change
- Healthy Eating: Staying With Your Plan
- Healthy Eating to Decrease Stress
- Jaci's Story: Changing her Life With Small Steps
- Jeremy's Story: Focusing on Eating Habits
- Loralie's Story: It's Never Too Late
- Maggie Morries: Plan Ahead When You Eat Out
- Plant-based Foods
- Sugary Drinks and Other Beverages
- Sodium
-
Nutrients
- Added Sugars
- Antioxidants
- Antioxidants and Your Diet
- Carbohydrate Foods
- Carbohydrate, Proteins, Fats and Blood Sugar
- Choosing a Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
- Cholesterol and Triglycerides: Eating Fish and Fish Oil
- Comparing Sugar Substitute
- Dietary Fats and Your Health
- Dietary Guidelines for Good Health
- Dietary Reference Intake
- Eating Protein
- Calcium and Your Health
- Food Sources of Vitamin K
- Getting Enough Calcium and Vitamin D
- Getting Enough Fibre
- Getting Enough Folic Acid
- Getting Enough Iron
- Getting Enough Potassium
- Healthy Eating: Cutting Unhealthy Fats From Your Diet
- Healthy Eating: Taking Calcium and Vitamin D
- High Potassium Eating
- High Potassium Foods
- Iron and Your Health
- Iron in Foods
- Low-Potassium Foods
- Major Nutrients in Food
- Minerals: Their Functions and Sources
- Non-Milk Sources of Calcium
- Quick Nutrition Check for Protein
- Quick Nutrition Check for Protein: Sample Menus
- Quick Nutrition Check for Vitamin B12
- Types of Fats
- Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Adults
- Vitamins: Their Functions and Sources
- Food Labels
- Plan, Shop and Prepare
- Food, Water and Beverage Safety
- Canada's Food Guide FAQs
- Food Security
- Vegetarian Diets
-
Healthy Weights
- About Healthy Weights
- Genetic Influences on Weight
- Screening for Weight Problems
- Unplanned Weight Loss
- Quick Tips: Cutting Calories
- Physical Activity for Weight Loss
- Weight Loss by Limiting Calories
- Tips for Maintaining Weight Loss
- Choosing a Weight-Loss Program
- Boosting Your Metabolism
- Exercise Helps Maggie Stay at a Healthy Weight
- Healthy Eating: Recognizing Your Hunger Signals
- Hunger, Fullness, and Appetite Signals
- Weight Management
- Weight Management: Stop Negative Thoughts
- Maggie's Strategies for Eating Healthy
- Maggie: Making Room for Worth-It Foods
- Maggie's Story: Making Changes for Her Health
- Weight Management Centre
-
Policies and Guidelines
-
Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Making Bake Sales Delicious and Nutritious
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Boosting the Sales of Nutritious Food in Schools
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Food Fundraiser Ideas for Schools
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Involving Everyone in Implementing the Guidelines
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Selling Food and Beverages at School Sporting Events
- Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales: Planning Healthy Cafeteria Menus
- Healthier Choices in Vending Machines
-
Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools
- Provincial Nutrition Resource Inventory
-
Forms and Tools
- Walking Log
- Exercise Planning Form
- Physical Activity Log
- Par-Q+ and ePARmed-X+
- Target Heart Rate
- Interactive Tool: What is Your Target Heart Rate
- Borg-Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale
- Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
- Overview of BC Provincial and Federal Nutrition Benefits Programs
- Body Mass Index (BMI)
- Body Mass Index (BMI) for Adults
- Interactive Tool: Do Your BMI and Waist Size Increase Your Health Risks?
- Measuring Your Waist
- Body Fat Testing
- Fitness: Using a Pedometer, Step Counter, or Wearable Device
- Email a HealthLinkBC Dietitian
- Email a Qualified Exercise Professional
Canada has seen rising rates of obesity and diabetes:
- Obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) affected 26.4% and overweight (body mass index 25-29.9 kg/m2) affected 34% of adults in 2016.
- Diabetes and prediabetes affected 9.3% and 22.1% of adults respectively in 2015.
Obesity and diabetes increase the risk of developing a number of complications:
- Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, among others.
- Diabetes also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke and is the leading cause of blindness, end stage renal disease and non-traumatic amputation.
Prediabetes refers to impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance or a glycated hemoglobin of 6.0 to 6.4%, each of which increases the risk of developing diabetes and its complications.
Physical Activity and Metabolic Conditions
While regular physical activity may improve glucose control and facilitate weight loss, it causes a wide range of health benefits (i.e., improved cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life) in adults even if glucose and body weight control do not change.
Canadian guidelines recommend that adults living with overweight, obesity, prediabetes and/or diabetes perform aerobic and resistance exercise and decrease sedentary behaviour (e.g., sitting or watching TV) for health benefits and/or body weight control.
Useful Resources
Physical Activity Counselling Toolkit (University of Alberta, Canada)
This Toolkit consists of handouts on physical activity for general health and various chronic conditions, including weight management and type 2 diabetes. The handouts are intended to be used by health care providers and/or qualified exercise professionals to support patients/clients to become more physically active.
Motivate2Move Guide (British Association of Sport & Exercise Medicine, United Kingdom)
Chapters 7 and 9 of this comprehensive guide for health practitioners on physical activity provide brief bites of key information on metabolic health and obesity, respectively.
Type 2 Diabetes (Moving Medicine, United Kingdom)
This website presents step-by-step guides to integrating physical activity conversations in routine clinical care.
Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Sweden)
This online textbook provides comprehensive evidence-based information about physical activity for type 1 diabetes (chapter 25), type 2 diabetes (chapter 26), metabolic syndrome (chapter 34), and obesity (chapter 36).
Click here for resources designed for clients.
Further Reading
Last updated: November 2021
Helping You Make it Happen
This section provides health care professionals with examples of frameworks effective for changing physical activity behaviour and then sets forth resources to support applying aspects of the frameworks and guiding clients toward more physically active lifestyles.
Contact Physical Activity Services
If you have questions about physical activity or exercise, call 8-1-1 (or 7-1-1 for the deaf and hard of hearing) toll-free in B.C. Our qualified exercise professionals are available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm Pacific Time. You can also leave a message after hours.
Translation services are available in more than 130 languages.
HealthLinkBC’s qualified exercise professionals can also answer your questions by email.
Contact a Dietitian
If you have any questions about healthy eating, food, or nutrition, call 8-1-1 (or 7-1-1 for the deaf and hard of hearing) toll-free in B.C. You can speak to a health service navigator who can connect you with one of our registered dietitians, who are available 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. You can also leave a message after hours.
Translations services are available in more than 130 languages.
HealthLinkBC Dietitians can also answer your questions by email.