How many people are overweight or obese in Canada?
In 2020, there were around 9.91 million people in Canada who were overweight and 7.85 million who were obese. This means that almost 36 percent of the population was overweight, and 28 percent was obese. Men in Canada are much more likely than women to be overweight, however, rates of obesity are similar for both men and women. Those aged 50 to 64 years have the highest rates of obesity among all age groups in Canada, while younger people aged 18 to 34 years report the lowest rates of being overweight and obese. Although genetic factors can influence body weight and older adults can be more susceptible to obesity, obesity is most often simply caused by eating too many calories and not exercising enough.Regional differences
Even though obesity is an increasing problem across Canada, there are significant regional differences in how obese the population is. The Canadian provinces with the highest prevalence rates of obesity are Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick, while Quebec and British Columbia have the lowest rates. In 2020, almost 42 percent of the population of Newfoundland and Labrador was thought to be obese, compared to 24 percent of people in British Columbia. The provinces with the highest percentage of adolescents who are overweight or obese are Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In total, around 23.2 percent of adolescents in Canada are estimated to be overweight or obese.
