Obesity in Canada

Obesity in Canada is a growing health concern, which is "expected to surpass[a] smoking as the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality" and represents a burden[b] of Can$3.96 (US$3.04/€2.75) billion on the Canadian economy each year.

Only 9 out of the 10 provinces in Canada perform bariatric surgery, and only 114 surgeons and 33 centers provide this service, making only 1 out of 183 Canadian adults eligible for it.

[16] In general, children with obesity are at much higher risk of developing health problems, ranging from, asthma, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, etc.

The authors suggested this is in result of increased public awareness of obesity in children, or the body mass index (BMI) growth charts that were distributed to healthcare providers in 2000.

A 1-year survey by Mollard et al. (2007) carried out on young people aged 10 to 16 establishes a significant positive correlation between the consumption of energy-rich food and the rate of overweight/obesity.

Mollard et al. (2007) also found that the size of the portions served to the child had an influence on the amount of calories ingested, from the age of 5 years.

The study found people that live in cities (Census Metropolitan Areas) had significantly lower obesity rates in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

People dealing with stress often turn to eating as a method to help ease or cope with their problems, leading to obesity.

"[20] In April 2021, British Columbia became the first Canadian province to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, a move that the government described as a response to advice from health professionals.