ISHMAEL N. DARO
Web Editor

A new report released by the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, shows that more than half of Canadians are either overweight or obese.

The report finds that one in two people is now overweight or obese in almost half of OECD countries, which comprises 33 member states committed to market economies. Canada is one of the 19 founding members of the organization.

The highest overweight and obesity rates are found in Mexico and the United States, at 69.5 and 68 per cent respectively. Canada, at 55 per cent, is somewhere in the middle of the pack, with Japan and South Korea among the lowest. The report highlights the health and economic costs of increased obesity in OECD countries and emphasizes prevention as the best way to save lives and money in the long run.

In its Canadian statistics, the OECD report finds weight problems more common among men than women. Women with poor education, however, are almost twice as likely as more educated women to be overweight, and this gap is not present in men.

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image: Flickr