The Canadian Obesity Epidemic: An Historical Perspective

Abstract

KATZMARZYK, PETER T. The Canadian obesity epidemic: an historical perspective. Obes Res. 2002;10: 666 -674. Objective: To examine temporal trends in stature, body mass, body mass index (BMI), and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Canada. Research Methods and Procedures: Data for adults 20 to 64 years of age were compared across eight Canadian surveys conducted between 1953 and 1998. Temporal trends in stature and body mass were examined using regression, and changes in weight-for-height were expressed as changes from 1953. BMI data were available from 1970 to 1972 to examine changes in overweight and obesity. Qualitative changes in the BMI distribution were examined using Tukey mean-difference plots. Results: Significant temporal trends in stature and body mass have occurred since 1953 in Canada. Median stature increased 1.4 cm/decade in men and 1.1 cm/decade in women, whereas median body mass increased 1.9 kg/decade in men and 0.8 kg/decade in women. Increases in the 75th percentile of body mass were larger than the median. The average weight-for-height increased 5.1% in men and 4.9% in women from 1953. Furthermore, the prevalences of overweight and obesity have increased from 40.0% and 9.7% in 1970 -1972 to 50.7% and 14.9% in 1998, respectively. The entire BMI distribution has shifted to the right since 1970 -1972 and has become more skewed to the right for men than for women. Discussion: There have been significant increases in stature and body mass in Canada over the last 45 years. Body mass has increased more than stature, particularly in the upper percentiles, which has resulted in the currently observed high prevalences of overweight and obesity.

BMI distribution/social stratification in Swiss conscripts from 1875 to present

“…The difference between the two distributions in the 1930s and in (2009) suggest that this skewing phenomenon has been taking place from 1980 onward in the case of Switzerland. We were not able to test that point in time, but we confirm the general pattern that has been observed in other countries (Rasmussen et al, 1999;Felgal and Troiano, 2000;Katzmarzyk, 2002;Penman and Johnson, 2006;Komlos et al, 2009;Hiermeyer 2009). The BMI distribution in Switzerland has become increasingly skewed in the second half of the twentieth century by a distribution shift more to the upper end of the curve than to the lower end.…”

“…Rasmussen et al (1999) explored BMI patterns for Sweden since the 1970s and Katzmarzyk (2002) for Canada since the 1970s. Vignerova et al (2007) compared percentile changes in BMI-for-age of Czech adolescents between 1951 and 2001.…”

Monitoring weight daily blocks the freshman weight gain: a model for combating the epidemic of obesity

“…36 Monitoring weight daily blocks the freshman weight gain It remains to be seen whether the TMS will be effective in preventing the ever increasing body weight observed in the population since the early 1980s. [24][25][26][27] The increase in weight is clearly related to an increase in energy consumption 28 and a decrease in energy expenditure, 29 although the evidence for the latter cause is not as strong as the increase in energy intake. Much of this increase in energy consumption is a result of the effectiveness of the food industry's promotion of increased consumption of carbohydrates as snack foods 28 and soft drinks, 30 increased package and portion sizes, 31 as well as the success of the fast food industry.…”

Hospital admissions associated with body mass index in Canadian adults

“…There has been a dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity during the past several decades and there is no sign of slowing down in Canada [1][2][3][4] and the US. [5][6][7] There is an increasing body of evidence for obesity epidemic from many other countries and regions as well, including Europe, 8 Latin America, 9 Australia 10 and Asian countries.…”