A new report suggests the Calgary Health Region must do more to narrow the gap in health status among the city's neighbourhoods.

The health authority's latest Health of the Region report, released Tuesday, concludes the disparity in health status is growing between lower and higher socio-economic communities.

Dr. Brent Friesen, the chief medical officer of health, attributes the gap to a lack of education, as well as uneven access to the services the health region offers.

"We need to be looking at how we're delivering services across the entire health region and targeting those services to meet the needs of a particular social district," he said.

"It's going to require us to work with individuals, work with communities, work with other groups to address the determinates that are affecting health in these communities."

 

Also found in the report:

• 78.5 per cent of residents are not meeting daily minimum nutrition requirements
• 45 per cent aren't active enough to achieve health benefits
• 73 per cent haven't had a flu shot over the last year

The report singles out smoking as the single, most preventable cause of death and illness in the region. People who live in northeast Calgary have the highest smoking rates and the shortest life expectancy.

Nationally, Calgary has the second largest percentage of heavy drinkers and the lowest blood pressure in the country.