Canadians are Getting Fatter
Sep 24, 2010
A new study indicates that Canada’s battle with the bulge is continuing to escalate with nearly a quarter of Canadians rated as obese.
In “Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit Not Fat,” which is its inaugural study on obesity, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) examined the economic and financial toll of rising obesity rates. Canada was found to have a relatively high number of overweight citizens and the 25 percent obesity rate is expected to climb another five percent in the next decade. On the positive side, the authors of the report acknowledge that obesity rates in Canada have not increased substantially in the last 15 years.
Weight concerns are particularly prevalent among Canadian men, as the report found that two in three qualify as overweight. Canada was described as having high obesity rates relative to the other OECD nations included in the study.
Not surprisingly, Canada’s rates are significantly lower than those in the US, which was identified by the OECD as the fattest nation of its member countries. In the US some 70 percent of residents are classified as overweight. The number of obese Americans is projected to rise to 75 percent by 2020, according to the report.
As a remedy to increasing obesity rates, the report urges the adoption of a comprehensive weight-gain-prevention strategy. This approach would likely involve government initiatives – such as health-promotion messaging, transportation policies to encourage travel by foot, and taxation changes to regulate food prices. Such a program is estimated to cost US$32 per capita and would prevent up to 40,000 deaths from chronic diseases every year. An organized program of counseling for obese people by their family physicians would also lead to a significant gain in years of life in good health.
Prevention can be seen as economically beneficial as well, as the report states that it can improve health at a lower cost than many treatments that are currently offered by the health systems of OECD countries.
The entire report can be accessed by clicking here.
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