TORONTO – In an effort to give children the “best possible start in life,” Health Minister Deb Mathews announced a new expert panel on Friday to investigate childhood obesity rates in Ontario.
The weighty goal of the panel is to reduce the childhood obesity rate by 20 per cent in the next five years.
With the startling statistic that almost a quarter of children in Ontario are overweight, Global News has broken down the numbers of obesity rates in Ontario, Canada, and around the world.
Ontario:
Almost 25 per cent of children in Ontario are currently considered overweight, according to Health Canada.
Though Ontario’s obesity rate is among the lowest in Canada, it is a growing problem.
According to Public Health data, obesity rates in Ontario have grown from 15.4 per cent in 2003 to 15.6 per cent in 2007/2008.
Canada:
Approximately 25 per cent of adults in Canada are obese according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Data from the World Health Organization echoes the Canadian number, with 24.3 per cent of the population considered obese.
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Canada ranks 58th on a list of worldwide obesity levels according to the World Health Organization.
Obesity is increasing among all populations in Canada. According to the Public Health Agency data, between 1981 and 2009, obesity rates roughly doubled among both males and females across age groups.
The province with the lowest rate of obesity is British Columbia with just 12.8 per cent of the population being considered obese.
Newfoundland has the highest rate of obesity according to public health data: 25.4 per cent of the population.
United States:
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 20 per cent of children in the United States are obese.
Adolescents (age 12-19) are at 18 per cent.
Worldwide:
Though obesity is commonly thought to be a problem associated with a Western diet, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) seems to suggest otherwise. Nauru, a tiny island country northeast of Australia ranks at the top of the world’s obese nations with approximately 71.1 per cent of the population considered obese.
Nauru is followed by the Cook Islands at 64.1 per cent, Tonga at 59.6 per cent, Samoa at 55.5 per cent, and Palau at 50.7 per cent.
The United States, according to the World Health Organization is the 24th most obese country in the world, with 31.8 per cent of the country regarded as obese.
18 chronic diseases are linked to obesity.
According to Health Canada, obesity cost approximately $4.6 billion in 2008, up from $3.9 billion in 2000.
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