Overall health

Overall health includes our physical, mental, and social well-being. Many factors influence our overall health—from what we eat and how much sleep we get to whether we have a livable income and feel connected to friends, family, and our community.

An older woman using a wheelchair waters flowers with a watering can in front of her home.
An older Sikh man and woman participate in an outdoor exercise class.

Perceived health

Our overall health is difficult to measure because it is so complex. How we perceive our own health is a reliable way to capture overall health because we can consider all the unique things that are important to our personal health. [1] [2]

2 in 3 people in our community perceive their health as very good or excellent
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2 in 3 people in our community perceive their health as very good or excellent

People with better perceived health tend to have less illness, live longer, and be able to participate more fully in the community. [3] 

An area graph shows the percentage of people age 12 years and older in Guelph, Wellington County, and Dufferin County who perceived their health as very good or excellent from 2015 and 2016 to 2019 and 2020. For a full description of the graph, refer to the “Read graph as text” section.
Nearly two-thirds of people age 12 years and older in Guelph, Wellington County, and Dufferin County perceive their health as very good or excellent. An area graph shows the percentage of people age 12 years and older in Guelph, Wellington County, and Dufferin County who perceived their health as very good or excellent from 2015 and 2016 to 2019 and 2020. The x-axis shows the years, and the y-axis shows the percentage of people who perceived their health as very good or excellent. The percentage of people is consistently greater than 60%. Source: Public Health Ontario A line graph shows the percentage of grade 10 students who are successful on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in Guelph and Wellington County from the 2013/24 school year to the 2017/18 school year. The x-axis shows the school year, and the y-axis shows the percentage of students who were successful the first time they wrote the OSSLT. The lines for Guelph and Wellington County are consistently around 80%. Source: Education Quality and Accountable Office (EQAO)
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Life expectancy

Life expectancy is the number of years a person is expected to live.

Life expectancy in our community is increasing
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Life expectancy in our community is increasing

Life expectancy in Guelph and Wellington County—and across Canada, more broadly—has been increasing for decades. Reasons for increased life expectancy include improved access to nutritious food and safe drinking water, better hygiene, and healthcare services and supports like immunization and sexual and reproductive care. [1] 

A horizontal dumbbell dot plot shows the life expectancy in Guelph, Wellington County, and Dufferin County from birth and age 65 in 2006 and 2017. For a full description of the graph, refer to the “Read graph as text” section.
Only about 70% of grade 9 students in Guelph and Wellington County in applied mathematics programs meet or exceed the numeracy skills of the Grade 9 Mathematics Assessment. Life expectancy in Guelph and Wellington County—and across Canada, more broadly—has been increasing for decades. Reasons for increased life expectancy include improved access to nutritious food and safe drinking water, better hygiene, and healthcare services and supports like immunization and sexual and reproductive care. [1]
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References

  1. Schnittker, J., & Bacak, V. (2014). The increasing predictive validity of self-rated health. PLoS ONE, 9(1), e84933. . 
  2. Manor, O., Matthews, S., & Power, C. (2001). Self-rated health and limiting longstanding illness: Inter-relationships with morbidity in early adulthood. International Journal of Epidemiology, 30(3), 600–607. 
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2012). An introduction to applied epidemiology and biostatistics. In, Principles of epidemiology in public health practice (3rd ed.). 
  1. Clark, J. N. (2020). Health, illness, and medicine in Canada (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. 
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Data sources

Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario). (2023). Overall health snapshot [Data file]. Retrieved December 17, 2024. 

Statistics Canada. (2019). Table 13-10-0389-01. Life expectancy, at birth and at age 65, by sex, three-year average, Canada, provinces, territories, health regions and peer groups [Data table]. Retrieved November 27, 2024. 

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