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Luba · 01-21-2006, 01:08 PM

'Province' Article:

The number of extremely obese Canadians is growing, with a quadrupling since 1985 in the proportion of people carrying around the kind of fat "stomach stapling" is reserved for, new data shows.
In 2003, 4.3% of Canadians had Class 2 obesity (about 75 pounds overweight) or Class 3 obesity (100 pounds or more than their ideal weight.) In 1985, just one per cent of the population was that fat.
"There's no other disease I can think of where you would see a four-fold increase in a period of 20 years," sayd Dr. Arya Sharma of the Canadian Obesity Network.
The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal was based on seven surveys.
At low ranges, obesity increases the risk for other diseases, such as coronary artery disease, hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes.
"At this kind of BMI, obesity itself becomes the disease because once you get that big, the direct effects of your body size on your health become more and more important," says Sharma, a professor of Medicine at McMaster University of Hamilton. "You're talking about arthritis, you're talking about pain, sleep apnea and the quality of life deteriorates fast at that size."
Canada's waistline is growing: 33.9% were overweight in 2003, versus 27.8% in 1985.
Without bariatric surgery, people with severe obesity "are just going to drop out of the workforce and live on disability and create quite substantial health costs," Sharma says. Most morbidly obese people tend to be younger, in their 20's or 30's. It's not unusual for him to see 600- to 700-pound patients.
Waiting times for weight-loss surgery are about four to five years.
"There is close to a million people in Canada right now who are clearly candidates for surgery, and yet we do 1,200 operations a year," he said. Ontario alone sends up to 800 patients a year to the U.S., at a cost of about $20 million to taxpayers," he said.

01-21-2006, 01:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
Luba Moderator Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 12,799	Canada's morbidly obese growing at an alarming rate 'Province' Article: The number of extremely obese Canadians is growing, with a quadrupling since 1985 in the proportion of people carrying around the kind of fat "stomach stapling" is reserved for, new data shows. In 2003, 4.3% of Canadians had Class 2 obesity (about 75 pounds overweight) or Class 3 obesity (100 pounds or more than their ideal weight.) In 1985, just one per cent of the population was that fat. "There's no other disease I can think of where you would see a four-fold increase in a period of 20 years," sayd Dr. Arya Sharma of the Canadian Obesity Network. The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal was based on seven surveys. At low ranges, obesity increases the risk for other diseases, such as coronary artery disease, hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes. "At this kind of BMI, obesity itself becomes the disease because once you get that big, the direct effects of your body size on your health become more and more important," says Sharma, a professor of Medicine at McMaster University of Hamilton. "You're talking about arthritis, you're talking about pain, sleep apnea and the quality of life deteriorates fast at that size." Canada's waistline is growing: 33.9% were overweight in 2003, versus 27.8% in 1985. Without bariatric surgery, people with severe obesity "are just going to drop out of the workforce and live on disability and create quite substantial health costs," Sharma says. Most morbidly obese people tend to be younger, in their 20's or 30's. It's not unusual for him to see 600- to 700-pound patients. Waiting times for weight-loss surgery are about four to five years. "There is close to a million people in Canada right now who are clearly candidates for surgery, and yet we do 1,200 operations a year," he said. Ontario alone sends up to 800 patients a year to the U.S., at a cost of about $20 million to taxpayers," he said.