Keep your home safe

Spring is here, and city police are reminding residents to protect their property from thieves. Police recommend keeping doors and windows locked, even when you’re at home or in your backyard. Don’t leave your garage door open if you’re working outside, and consider installing an alarm system. If you have a ladder stored outside, chain it or padlock it, as a thief could use it to get up to a secondfloor window. Put your tools away - leaving them outside could give a thief the opportunity to use them to break in. Lock or put away bikes, toys, patio furniture and other valuable outdoor items. Keep trees, hedges and bushes trimmed so thieves don’t have a place to hide. Make sure your house looks lived in - cut your grass, rake leaves and clean up debris. Motion-sensitive lights are a good security measure, police say. Lock your gates and make sure gates and fences are in good repair. Privacy slats offer added protection if you have chain-link fences, police advise. Other measure include getting to know your neighbours and learn neighbourhood routines, leave keys and emergency information with a trusted neighbour if you’re travelling and take part in crime prevention programs.

About 500 city households will soon be randomly selected to take part in the Canadian Health Measures Survey, a national survey conducted by Statistics Canada that plays a role in learning more about our health.

The two-phase survey, which will take about six weeks, will begin next Tuesday, said the survey’s manager of respondent relations, Anne Lostracco.

The first phase involves an inhome interview with the selected individuals. They will be asked questions about, among other things, nutrition, alcohol and tobacco consumption, medical history and level of physical activity.

In the second phase, participants from phase one who volunteer will then go to a mobile clinic, which will be temporarily located in the parking lot of Northcrest Arena at 100 Marina Blvd., to undergo a number of tests.

At the clinic, health professionals employed by Statistics Canada will take participants’ physical health measures, including height, weight, neck and waist circumference. The specialists will also do tests to measure blood pressure, fitness level, vision and musculoskeletal health.

Finally, biospecimens will be collected to assess participants’ cardiovascular health, nutritional status and exposure to environmental contaminants.

The survey has yielded valuable information used to improve health programs and services since it was launched in 2007, Lostracco said.

For example, officials now know that 22 per cent of adults from age 20 to 20 suffer from hypertension and that 16 per cent of the population is unaware of the condition in which blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated.

Also, the survey has found that some 13 per cent of boys ages five to 17 and six per cent of girls do not meet Canadian physical activity guidelines.

Survey data will help provide an accurate portrait of the health of Canadians.

Various health care stakeholders, including professionals, researchers and public health planners, use this data to adapt programs and services to the population’s needs, Lostracco said.

Well-known national organizations, such as the Canadian Public Health Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, have shown their support for the survey.

“(Survey participants) will play an important role in improving the health of Canadians,” Lostracco said.

There will also be a direct benefit for those taking part. They will get access to health information, from lab analysis, that they may not normally get from their family doctor, she added

Lostracco emphasized that participants’ information will be classified. The survey is done under the authority of the Statistics Act, which guarantees that all the information provided by participants remains confidential.

The health specialists hired by Statistics Canada are fully qualified and certified, officials stated.

Statistics Canada conducts the survey in partnership with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada nationwide.

For each survey cycle, 16 sites are randomly selected to participate. The participants from Peterborough will take part in Cycle 5 of the survey.

NOTE: For more information on the survey, visit www. statcan.gc.ca/eng/survey/ household/5071.