Over half of all Canadian adults overweight of obese!!! YIKE

135gratitude
135gratitude Posts: 364
edited September 19 in Health and Weight Loss
I did a bit of reasearch through Statisitcs Canada, and a 2004 Census and found this SHOCKING information:

23% of Canadians are OBESE (BMI 30+)
36% of Canadian are OVERWEIGHT (BMI 25-30)
41% of Canadians were with the HEALTHY weight range (BMI 19-25)

Note: People who were underweight were "statistically insignificant".

More than HALF of all Canadians are OVERWEIGHT!!!

Size of Average Woman by Country
USA.............CANADA...........UK
163 lbs........153 lbs............147 lbs
5'4"................5'4"...................5'4"

Isn't this SCARY!?!?!?!
:ohwell: :noway:

Replies

  • Daisy_May
    Daisy_May Posts: 505 Member
    Do know what the sad part is?? I'm shocked the average Canadian woman weighs that little, I would have though more like 170.
  • 135gratitude
    135gratitude Posts: 364
    It's scary, isn't it!?

    154 lbs at 5'3" though has got to be close to obese though, I think (BMI's gotta be close to 30).

    I LOVE that everyone on this site is working on their health, and getting those numbers down!
    :flowerforyou:
  • teal2111
    teal2111 Posts: 16
    It is very scary, although I thought the average weight would be higher.

    Most people don't know where the line is between overweight and obese. Obese is "less" that most people expect. What we see as average or normal is so much bigger than it used to be. Portion sizes are huge. Remember when a muffin was cupcake size...now they're about double the size. We've moved from the quality of our food to the quantity.

    It is also unfortunate that eating healthy also costs more.
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    I would like to see the comparision of Morbidly Obese as well. I have to wonder if there is a significate difference between the countries.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    the average height in canada is 5'4"...that is a crazy piece of information! makes me feel like a giant
  • ivykivy
    ivykivy Posts: 2,970 Member
    You may want to check out this study also http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155086.php

    Overweight people live longer than normal weight people. Obese people and normal weight people die at the same rate. Underweight people die the earliest followed by morbidly obese. Being overweight allow us to live a lot longer.
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    the average height in canada is 5'4"...that is a crazy piece of information! makes me feel like a giant
    I know! I'm 5'10. I thought average was closer to 5'6. :sad: :sad: :sad:
  • Carrie6o6
    Carrie6o6 Posts: 1,443 Member
    Im Canadian, and im 5'4''... Right now at 185lbs and size 12... I WISH i was at 150lbs! Im thinking 145lbs which is the high end of my "healthy" weight will make me look like skin and bones... I don't think 150lbs is too bad for me and my body I guess.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    the average height in canada is 5'4"...that is a crazy piece of information! makes me feel like a giant
    I know! I'm 5'10. I thought average was closer to 5'6. :sad: :sad: :sad:

    i'm 5'10" too! high five!
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    You may want to check out this study also http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155086.php

    Overweight people live longer than normal weight people. Obese people and normal weight people die at the same rate. Underweight people die the earliest followed by morbidly obese. Being overweight allow us to live a lot longer.

    My concern with the study is that it is based on BMI which has been proven to be inaccurate when dealing with extremely fit people or short people and the study doesn't indicate that there was any effort made to prevent these inaccuracies. I have know quite a few people with healthy body fats that are considered overweight based on BMI. Those types of people have the potential to greatly skew the results. Additionally, the article states that it doesn't measure quality of life only likelihood to die. Personally, I would rather be healthy and die younger. JMO.
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    the average height in canada is 5'4"...that is a crazy piece of information! makes me feel like a giant
    I know! I'm 5'10. I thought average was closer to 5'6. :sad: :sad: :sad:

    i'm 5'10" too! high five!
    YAY! I'm not the only giant!:laugh:
  • 135gratitude
    135gratitude Posts: 364
    It is very scary, although I thought the average weight would be higher.

    Most people don't know where the line is between overweight and obese. Obese is "less" that most people expect. What we see as average or normal is so much bigger than it used to be. Portion sizes are huge. Remember when a muffin was cupcake size...now they're about double the size. We've moved from the quality of our food to the quantity.

    It is also unfortunate that eating healthy also costs more.

    I recently attended a meeting with "muffins" that were purchased at Costco - they were like little cakes, that would, no kidding, feed a family of four a nice snack.

    Portions are WAY out of control!!!
    :smile:
  • ivykivy
    ivykivy Posts: 2,970 Member
    Both studies use BMI so I guess neither is very accurate. The population of the US has changed dramatically with more Hispanic and African American which it has been proven especially in African Americans that BMI is a not a useful tool. But the useless tool is quite effective for scaring people and making money for the diet industry. Oops I think I got on the soap box w/o even knowing it.:laugh:
    You may want to check out this study also http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155086.php

    Overweight people live longer than normal weight people. Obese people and normal weight people die at the same rate. Underweight people die the earliest followed by morbidly obese. Being overweight allow us to live a lot longer.

    My concern with the study is that it is based on BMI which has been proven to be inaccurate when dealing with extremely fit people or short people and the study doesn't indicate that there was any effort made to prevent these inaccuracies. I have know quite a few people with healthy body fats that are considered overweight based on BMI. Those types of people have the potential to greatly skew the results. Additionally, the article states that it doesn't measure quality of life only likelihood to die. Personally, I would rather be healthy and die younger. JMO.
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    Both studies use BMI so I guess neither is very accurate. The population of the US has changed dramatically with more Hispanic and African American which it has been proven especially in African Americans that BMI is a not a useful tool. But the useless tool is quite effective for scaring people and making money for the diet industry. Oops I think I got on the soap box w/o even knowing it.:laugh:

    :laugh: I was kind of worried I sounded soapboxy myself. :blushing:
  • 135gratitude
    135gratitude Posts: 364
    I would like to see the comparision of Morbidly Obese as well. I have to wonder if there is a significate difference between the countries.

    It did list the morbidly - I don't remember the exact number, but it was somewhere in the 10's (%) of the obese. The US is above us pretty much in every category.
  • mommared53
    mommared53 Posts: 9,543 Member
    When I started MFP, I was 178.8 pounds (I'm 5'3") and considered obese. What a shocker that was to me! I knew I was overweight but obese?! :noway: AAccording to MFP my obese starts at 169.4. Now, I'm currently 150 and in the lower half of overweight. My healthy weight is between 104 and 141. I wouldn't want to go any lower than 130 though because I would be way too skinny.
  • havingitall
    havingitall Posts: 3,728 Member
    the average height in canada is 5'4"...that is a crazy piece of information! makes me feel like a giant
    I know! I'm 5'10. I thought average was closer to 5'6. :sad: :sad: :sad:

    i'm 5'10" too! high five!
    YAY! I'm not the only giant!:laugh:

    5'10" here too
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    I would like to see the comparision of Morbidly Obese as well. I have to wonder if there is a significate difference between the countries.

    It did list the morbidly - I don't remember the exact number, but it was somewhere in the 10's (%) of the obese. The US is above us pretty much in every category.

    Was there a significant variance between the three countries in Morbidly obese?
  • mrd232
    mrd232 Posts: 331
    I'm overweight by most standards but within healthy body fat range....BMI? Eh, who's to say it's a telling factor of health? By BMI standards, most who lift weights are out of their range.

    Body fat readings would be pretty interesting, though.
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