Study says 48 per cent of Canadian adults are overweight, 14.9 per cent obese

Call Jane and Bob and discuss their FBI strategy. FBI is a for profit attempt to help people become lean and healthy using natural remedies.(The Fat Buster Initiative) for spring is about to start . Get ready before the Government steps in and hires annoying fat police to augument the smoke and language police to haress you into action-chuckle . Qj


07/04/2005 5:07:00 AM

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TORONTO (CP) - About 48 per cent of Canadian adults are overweight - and Saskatoon is fat city, according to Statistics Canada figures from 2003.


The Saskatchewan city had the country's highest percentage of obese residents at 18.2 per cent, with 50.3 per cent considered overweight. No. 2 on the chubby chart was Halifax, where 17.9 per cent were classed as obese and 51.6 as overweight. At the other end of the scale, 6.1 per cent of Vancouver citizens were obese and 30.1 per cent were overweight. The West Coast centre not coincidetally also had the distinction of being the city with the most fit and active residents in the country.

Vancouver's closest contender was Toronto, where 11.4 per cent were obese and 40.9 per cent overweight.

The Association for Canadian Studies compiled the government data and found that Western Canadians are more active than their eastern counterparts.

Residents of British Columbia and the North were the most active. New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island had the least active residents.

While physical activity appears to be generally on the rise, rates of obesity have not come down, said the report.

The study used the World Health Organization's definition of obese, which is a person with a Body Mass Index (BMI) score of 30.0 or higher. A BMI above 25.0 is considered overweight.

BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared.

Men aged 20 to 64 were slightly more likely to be obese than women, with averages of 16 per cent versus 13.9 per cent.

Overall, 14.9 per cent of the country was obese and 48.2 per cent was considered overweight.

On the web: www.acs-aec.ca