Sixty per cent of Canadians are overweight and 24 per cent are obese, making Canada one of the fattest countries in the world, according to a new report.
The study, released on Thursday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), calls obesity “one of the largest public health emergencies of our time.”
It provides new insights into how governments and industry have encouraged obesity since the 1980s, when countries’ rates were all less than 10 per cent, and suggests preventative measures they can take.
The OECD defines obesity as a body mass index (BMI) of over 30. People with a BMI of 40-45 live eight to 10 years shorter than non-obese individuals, a risk similar to that of smoking.
Within Canada, B.C. has the lowest obesity rate in the country at 44.6 per cent of adults, according to the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey.
