Healthy Caribbean Coalition -
Curbing Childhood Obesity (Public Health Agency of Canada)
A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Framework for Action to Promote Healthy Weights
A National Crisis, A National Response
Canada is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic.
Childhood overweight and obesity has been rising steadily in
Canada in recent decades. Between 1978/79 and 2004, the
combined prevalence of overweight and obesity among those
aged two to 17 increased from 15 percent to 26 per cent.
Increases were highest among youth, aged 12 to 17 years, with
overweight and obesity more than doubling for this age group,
from 14 per cent to 29 per cent. In addition, young people
of Aboriginal origin (off-reserve) had a significantly high
combined overweight/obesity rate of41 per cent.
Childhood overweight and obesity has both immediate and
long-term health outcomes. Increasingly, obese children are
being diagnosed with a range of health conditions previously
seen almost exclusively among adults, including high
cholesterol, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea and joint
problems. Moreover, being overweight or obese in early
childhood significantly increases the likelihood of being
overweight or obese in adolescence and adulthood, with all
the accompanying health problems. First Published here
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/index-eng.php
Read or download (right click "Save Link/Target As") the
complete report here
If you do not have Adobe PDF reader installed on your computer you can download the latest version from Adobe by clicking on the Adobe Logo.