Obesity Rate in Canada Statistics

I wanted to put together this blog post as we always seem to hear about obesity statistics for the United States, which I agree can be pretty relevant for Canadians, but what are the obesity statistics for Canada specifically?

I had to go through a few different sources and studies. Research suggests that the prevalence of obesity in Canada has increased over the last two decades, which I don’t think is surprising to many. There is not a lot of research on Canadas obesity rates after 2022, but here is what I found.

Obesity rate in Canada statistics;

• In 2024 it is estimated that 67% of adults are overweight and 33% of adolescents, up from 2015 and 2022 respectively.
• According to Statistics Canada, 61.3% of adult Canadians were overweight or obese in 2015. The percentage of those who were obese rose to 26.7%, up from 23.1% in 2004.
• One in three Canadians aged 18 and older (30%) were obese in 2022, up from just over one in five (21%) in 2003 as per the 2022 Canadian Community Health Survey.
• 35% were overweight in 2022. Although the percentage of overweight adults stayed about the same from 2015 to 2022, the obesity percentage in that same time period had increased to the above 30%.
• There were approximately 8.7 million adults in Canada who were obese, while the number of adults who were overweight was over 10 million in 2022.
• It is estimated that almost 70% of Canadian men will be obese or overweight by 2030, if not sooner. While women will be pushing towards 60%. 
• Around 30.1% of Canadian adolescents were considered overweight or obese in 2022. This statistic displays the estimated percentage of Canadian adolescents aged 12 to 17 years that are considered overweight or obese based on body mass index (BMI) from 2005 to 2022.
• The total number of obese or overweight Canadian adolescents in 2022 was around 673 thousand.
• It is estimated that Canada will have over 1.1 million children who are obese by 2030, if not sooner. This includes children age 5 to 19 years.

I think we can all agree that those statistics are quiet alarming for both adults and our younger population. Much of which can be attributed to our increasing sedentary lifestyle being further propelled by convenience tools like food delivery services and public scooters being used instead of walking. Along with the abundance of junk and processed foods being consumed, with the aid of increasing food cost prices. Add in the highest rates of stress ever reported (blog coming on this soon), which also drive lack of sleep, increased inflammation and slower metabolism, and I think we can all agree that although these statistics are alarming, they are not entirely surprising. And I haven’t even mentioned hormone imbalances or environmental toxins (see my Is Your Body Toxic blog post here).

Which provinces have the highest rates of obesity?

Based on what I could find from 2022, but we could all agree from the above statistics have probably also increased, this is what I found. Ref.

• These three provinces had lower obesity in adults, than the national average – (30%) in British Columbia (26%) and Quebec (29%).
• These six provinces had higher obesity than the national average – New Brunswick (43%), Newfoundland and Labrador (42%), Saskatchewan (38%), Prince Edward Island (36%), Nova Scotia (36%) and Manitoba (34%).
• These two provinces had obesity that was about the same as the national average – Ontario (30%) and Alberta (31%).

Hopefully we see some updated statistics released late 2024 or in 2025, I think they are about due. Wouldn’t you agree?

But in the meantime, what can we do to try reduce the obesity rate in Canada statistics? Because we have more control over these numbers then we think. Especially if we all commit to working for change daily.

Start reducing rates of obesity with;

• Moving more. Most of us do NOT move as much as we think each day! Walking is one of the easiest levers to pull for fat loss. Track your steps with this pedometer and aim for 10,000 -12,000 steps a day. I bet you will be surprised at how difficult it is!
• Prioritize sleep! Create a solid evening routine and stick to regular sleep and wake schedules. I recommend, with everyone’s current stress taken into consideration, that most adults aim for 8 to 9.5 hours of sleep a night. Kids and adolescents approximately 10 to 11 hours (growing bodies need lots of sleep).
• Reduce stress as much as possible and practice daily stress management techniques like walking, self care practices, singing and laughing. Or whatever makes you smile.
• Focus on providing your body with the nutrition it needs to keep a strong/fast metabolism, preferably from lean meats (to limit endocrine disruptors which are stored in the animals fat), fruit, green vegetables, small amounts of saturated fats, lots of minerals and clean water.
• Remove as much junk food, processed foods, fast food, and polyunsaturated fatty acids from your diet as possible. More on PUFAS here.
• Aim to create a calorie deficit if its your goal to lose weight. I like to use Cronometer for my clients and my own tracking needs.
• Have fun! As much fun as your little heart can take. According to Dr Ray Peat, those who have more fun and spontaneity in their days, have higher metabolic rates.

Was this blog post helpful? Do you know someone who would be interested in reading about the obesity rates in Canada statistics? Please share with them! Also here ⇓ is a recent podcast I did on why I think we keep gaining weight or struggle to lose weight, and why I believe there needs to be a calorie deficit for fat loss, check them out.