In 2004, approximately 6.8 million Canadian adults ages 20 to 64 were overweight, and an additional 4.5 million were obese.
Results from the Canadian Community Health Surveys in 2000-2001, 2003 and 2004…indicate that approximately 58.8% of Canadian adults – 65.2% of men and 52.4% of women – were either overweight or obese in 2004, not including those survey participants who did not reveal their BMI. Between the 2000-2001 and 2004 surveys, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) among Canadian adults appears to have increased by more than 11 percentage points, while the prevalence of obesity alone increased by more than 8 percentage points.
The costs of overweight or obesity may be grouped into two categories: direct and indirect costs. Simply put: “direct costs are those for which payments are made, and indirect costs are those for which resources are lost.”
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Direct cost of obesity, including the cost of hospital care, physician services, services of other health professionals, drugs, other health care, and health research. |
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Obesity = BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2. |
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Direct cost of physical inactivity, including the cost of hospital care, physician care, drugs and research. |
Coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertension, colon cancer, breast cancer, Type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis (7). |
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Direct and indirect costs of obesity. The direct costs are the cost of the hospital care, the medicine, the care of doctors, the care in other institutions, and the additional direct expenditures in health care.
The indirect costs are measured based on the value of the years of lives lost because of premature deaths and the value of the days of lost activities because of an inability to be phsyically active in the long term. Direct and indirect costs of physical inactivity.Same elements as in the direct and indirect costs of obesity. |
Coronaropathie, ACV, hypertension, cancer of the côlon, cancer of the breast post-ménopause, type 2 diabetes , gall bladder disease, and osteoarthritis (8)
Coronaropathie, ACV, hypertension, cancer of the colon, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis (7). |
Obesity = Physical Inactivity = expended < 6,3 kJ per kilogram of body weight per day. For one person walking at medium speed is approximately 1,6 km per day. |
$4.3 million(2001$).
$1.6 million in direct cost. $2.7 million in direct costs. $5.3 million (2001$). $1.6 million in direct costs. $3.7 million in direct costs.
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The seminal work on the cost of obesity in Canada, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 1999, estimated the total direct cost of obesity in Canada in 1997 to be approximately $1.8 billion, or 2.4% of the total health care expenditures for all diseases in Canada.
There have been dramatic increases in overweight and obesity among Canadians over the past 30 years, and many experts fear it to be an epidemic. This growing health problem has translated into a large economic burden, reaching approximately $4.3 billion annually by most recent estimates. The factors that lead to overweight and obesity are numerous, complex and intertwined, which has led several experts to suggest a population health approach for addressing overweight and obesity in Canada. In a July 2005 news release, the Canadian Minister of State (Public Health) stated: “Encouraging and supporting healthy weights will require cooperative action across all sectors and levels of government … Social, economic, physical and environmental factors must be addressed to create environments that will support Canadians in making healthy choices.”
Source: http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0511-e.htm
In 1997, the total direct cost of obesity in Canada in 1997 was $1.8 billion – or 2.4% of total health care expenditures. According to the Staff of the Parliamentary Information and Research Service (PIRS) of the Library of Parliament report, The Obesity Epidemic in Canada, the growing obesity epidemic in Canada is costing government “$4.3 billion by most recent estimates.”
Considering in 2005, approximately 6.8 million Canadian adults ages 20 to 64 were overweight, and an additional 4.5 million were obese, the cost of obesity in Canada is likely to significantly increase over the coming years. Increased physical activity has the potential to decrease national health care costs while reducing the risk of developing terminal disease and debilitating conditions including heart disease, colon cancer, type II diabetes, hypertension and osteoporosis.
Sources:
Resources:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0511-e.htm
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca
http://www.canadian-health-network.ca
http://www.heartbc.ca/public/obesity
http://statcan.ca
http://www.cbc.ca
http://www.ctv.ca
http://cms.ihrsa.org
The Cost of Obesity in Canada. Eds. Birmingham, C. Laird et al. The Canadian Medical Association, 1999.
Membership Tax Incentives: Argument for the Deductibility of Fitness Dues. Levy, Micheal. Fitness Business Canada, November/December 2004.
Tax Deductibility for Fitness Club Memberships. Hardy, David. Fitness Business Canada.
