British Columbia’s have rated their mental health as among the lowest in Canada.

That was part of Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s report on the health of British Columbians.

“We are actually falling behind much of Canada and the world,” she said. “Although we have one of the highest life expectancies in the world, some of our mental health and our emotional health that is self-reported, has gone down.”

Her report is based on performance measures towards seven goals the Health Ministry set in 2013. They’re supposed to be met by 2023.

The province aims for 80 per cent of its residents aged 12 years and older to report good mental health. However, the rate dropped to 68.4 per cent.

Another area of concern is the binge drinking rates in both adult men and women. They’re both on the rise, but kids seem to be getting the message.

“The percentage of young people who report that they’ve started using either cannabis or alcohol before the age of 15 has dropped,” Henry said. “I think young people are smart.”

“They understand the impacts of substances.”

British Columbians are also not eating enough fruits and vegetables, with Dr. Henry saying it reflects food insecurity and our ability to get fruits and veggies.

“At certain times of the year that can be really difficult,” she noted. “And those are things that we need to address through support to young parents and support to people living in poverty.”

On the positive side, diabetes incidents, preventable deaths, smoking during pregnancy and the Hepatitis C rates are all down.

The report used data from 2015 and 2016 and noted that the opioid overdose crisis could impact our life expectancy in the future.

Young men are especially affected – making up nearly 80 per cent of overdose deaths in the province.

The report lists seven recommendations to meet the 2023 targets, mostly focused on improving equal health supports across the province.