Figure 4-1 shows that, among Canadians, the prevalence of self-reported obesity increases steadily through adulthood, peaking in individuals aged 60 to 69 years and declining thereafter. In 2009-2010, the prevalence of obesity in the 60 to 69 year age group was 22.5% for females and 22.6% for males. Overall, males were significantly more likely to be overweight or obese than females at every age. This difference was mostly due to the much higher proportion of males (40.6%) who self-reported being overweight compared to females (27.2%), as the proportion of males who self-reported being obese (19.5%) was comparatively similar to that of females (16.7%).
Footnotes: Overweight is based on a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 25.0
kg/m2 but less than 30.0 kg/m2; obesity is based on a BMI greater than or equal to 30.0
kg/ m2.
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada (2011); using 2009-2010 data from the
Canadian Community Health Survey (Statistics Canada).