Adult Overweight and Obesity

Indicator definition

The percentage of adults aged 18 or older reporting height and weight that result in a body mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m² or greater (overweight threshold) and 30 kg/m² or greater (obesity threshold). Results are presented over time, by province/territory and by sex using data from the 2014 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS).^†

Measured since

The 2009 Cancer System Performance Report.

Update frequency

Every two years.

Why measure this?

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for colorectal, breast (in post-menopausal women), endometrial, esophageal, gallbladder, liver, pancreatic, prostate and kidney cancers.^{1, 2} Risk increases with increasing BMI.¹ The global prevalence of obesity has more than doubled since 1980, with more than 1.9 billion adults classified as overweight and 600 million classified as obese in 2014.³ Efforts to increase the number of Canadians with a healthy body weight (defined as BMI between 18.5 kg/m² and 24.9 kg/m²) through a combination of physical activity and healthy food are important for reducing the burden of cancer in Canada.

What are the key findings?

• In 2014, 53.0% of Canadian adults self-reported being overweight or obese (data not shown). Overweight and obesity rates have been relatively stable since 2003 (Figure 1.11).
• The percentage of adults who reported being overweight or obese ranged from 48.0% in British Columbia to 67.0% in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2014 (Figure 1.12).
• Men were more likely to be overweight or obese than women (Figure 1.11).

Notes

^† Using self-reported data to measure overweight and obesity rates can result in an underestimate in the prevalence of overweight and obesity because people tend to overestimate their height and underestimate their weight.^4,5 However, self-reported data from the CCHS provide a proxy measure for estimating overweight and obesity rates across Canada.

References

1. World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research. Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. Washington DC: 2007.
2. Canadian Cancer Society. Body weight [Internet]. Toronto (ON): Canadian Cancer Society; 2016 [cited 2016 Feb 22]. Available from: http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-101/what-is-a-risk-factor/body-weight/.
3. World Health Organization. Obesity and overweight [Internet]. 2015 [updated 2015; cited 2016 Feb 22]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/.
4. Nyholm M, Gullberg B, Merlo J, Lundqvist-Persson C, Rastam L, Lindblad U. The validity of obesity based on self-reported weight and height: Implications for population studies. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Jan;15(1):197-208.
5. Merrill RM, Richardson JS. Validity of self-reported height, weight, and body mass index: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2006. Prev Chronic Dis. 2009 Oct;6(4):A121.