First Nations leaders in Quebec are calling for urgent action to improve living standards on reserves, in light of a new health study that reveals the majority of the province's 80,000 aboriginal people smoke, and are overweight or obese.

'With those numbers, I'm ashamed to be Canadian. Our health is the same as people in Third World countries.'-Dr. Stanley Vollant, aboriginal surgeon and former president of the Quebec Medical Association

The study, which was based on interviews with 4,000 Quebec aboriginal people living on and off reserves, found the obesity and overweight rates among adults and seniors were two and three times higher than the national average.

The study also found that more than 50 per cent of people participating in the study smoked cigarettes.

The situation is scandalous, said Dr. Stanley Vollant, an aboriginal surgeon and former president of Quebec's Medical Association.

"With those numbers, I'm ashamed to be Canadian," said Vollant, a member of the Montagnais community of Betsiamites. "Our health is the same as people in Third World countries."

The study found the following obesity and overweight rates within aboriginal communities:

• 52 per cent of aboriginal children.
• 42 per cent of adolescents.
• 67 per cent of adults.
• 71 per cent of elders over age 55.

Aboriginal communities could face an alarming number of cases of diabetes and respiratory disease in the near future if nothing is done to address the situation right now, said Vollant.

"You can expect in 10-15 years, an epidemic in diabetes. The rates will increase two, three, four times," he warned.

Economic and social conditions on both reserves and in urban settings exacerbate the problems, said Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations for Quebec and Labrador. The combination of underemployment and poor access to healthy foods makes it hard for people to make the right choices.

It's time all three levels of government — band councils, the province and Ottawa — act fast and act together to stem the tide, said Picard.

"Maybe the investment we have so far from the governments hasn't been properly placed," he said Tuesday.

The study was carried out by the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Committee in 2002. Aboriginal people living on 23 reserves and in Montreal, Quebec City and Val d'Or took part in the investigation. The study excluded northern Quebec Crees, the Mohawk community of Kahnawake and the Inuit.