Rank of doctors among professions with most bacteria in their work environments: 5
Rank of accountants: 2
No. of spoons an office lunch room will have to buy in a year to ensure always having 70 on hand: 250
No. of vacation days taken by the average Canadian worker in 2006: 19
No. of vacation days taken by the average French worker in 2006: 39
Estimated number of hours the Canadian economy loses annually due to insomnia: 48 000 000
Percentage increase in 10-pin bowling scores attained by subjects exposed to the scent of jasmine: 27
No. of percentage points by which each daughter in a family raises the likelihood of parents voting for a left-leaning political party: 2
Percentage of liberal women who say they dream about same-sex encounters: 14
Percentage of conservative women who say so: 4
No. of seconds it takes a university-age man to become sexually aroused when exposed to pornography: 30
No. of seconds it takes a university-age woman: 30
Proportion of Canadian women who say, in a first encounter with a man, that they prize wit over looks: 3/4
Proportion of Canadian men who say, in a first encounter with a woman, that they prize looks over intelligence: 3/5
Percentage by which the human head and face have shrunk over the past 10 000 years: 30
No. of years younger an affluent, 40-something married woman who has avoided excessive sun exposure will appear compared to a single, jobless woman who has devoted too much time to tanning: 7.2
No. of years younger an affluent, 40-something married man with no more than 3 children will appear as compared with a single, jobless man who has reduced his body mass index by 2 points: 10
Average number of years it would take a person eating a raw egg a day to fall ill with salmonella poisoning: 55
No. of excess cancer deaths per 100 000 people who eat farmed salmon: 24
Reduction in number of deaths from heart disease per 100 000 people among those who regularly eat any kind of salmon: 7125
Gallons of water it takes to produce 250 g of beef: 8000
No. of grams of salt in a Big Mac served in Canada: 2.55
No. of grams of salt in a Big Mac served in Portugal: 0.50
Percentage of Canadians, given current sodium intake, who will develop hypertension: 95
Average weight of an American woman, age 20–29, in 1960, in kg: 64
Average weight of an American woman, age 20–29, today, in kg: 77
Average weight of a Montreal Canadiens hockey player in 1917, in kg: 75
Average weight of a Montreal Canadiens hockey player in 2003, in kg: 92
Percentage of American Baptists who are considered obese: 30
Percentage of Canadian Baby Boomers who are considered obese: 30
Percentage of Americans with no religious affiliation who are considered obese: 6
Percentage increase in hip and knee replacement surgeries 1995–2005: 87
Percentage of patients receiving artificial knees who were overweight or obese: 87
Percentage of Canadians who believe their weight has little or no effect on their heart health: 58
Percentage increase in positive health outcomes of heart-bypass surgery patients being prayed for by others: 0
Percentage of Canadians who listen to a weather report before leaving home: 93
Percentage increase in heart attacks for every 10-degree drop in temperature: 13
No. of polar bears resident in the Greater Toronto Area who succumbed to West Nile virus in 2006: 1
Compiled by David McDonald, an Ottawa filmmaker and writer.
Footnotes
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A list of sources is available at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/175/12/1648/DC1