Obesity numbers still creeping up

It's something that we have been aware of for many, many years now, and yet obesity levels in every age range and social class are rising. An article published in The Globe and Mail today reports that this is not only a severe health problem, but an economic one too. The latest math shows that obesity in Canada is costing the government up to $7 billion per year, both from direct healthcare costs and and indirect costs such as lost productivity of people unable to work either because of disability or because they are unable to find employment due to discrimination.

The study quoted in the article, published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Public Health Agency of Canada, has now reported that 1 in 4 Canadians are obese (that is, with a BMI of over 30), while a staggering 62% of the population - that's almost 13 million people -  classified as overweight. In Canada, the percentage of obese adults has doubled in the past 30 years, while the number for children and youth has tripled.

The study also says that physical inactivity – meaning a person is active less than 15 minutes a day – is the greatest predictor of obesity. It warns that obesity significantly increases the risk of 18 chronic illnesses, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis and some forms of cancer.

Other developments in the news includes the emergence of new 'obesity drugs' for which a number of pharmaceutical companies are currently trying to get FDA approval.

Many worry about the consequences of releasing a potent weight-loss drug on a population which seems unwilling to make simple dietary or lifestyle changes.