Bodyweight: Do you think yours is at a healthy level?
- January 3, 2011 10:29 AM |
- By POV
By CBC News
Many Canadians are deluding themselves about their weight, a poll released Monday for CBC News suggests.
When asked if they're overweight, 44 per cent of those surveyed said yes, with seven per cent admitting to being obese. But the reality is worse, says Dr. Arya Sharma of the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
"Right now we have two-thirds of the Canadian population being overweight," said Sharma, who based his findings in part on a Statistics Canada report last year that directly measured heights and weights.
"We have about 20 per cent of the Canadians being what you would clinically obese."
The online poll of 1,514 adults and 506 youth aged 12 to 17 was conducted by Leger Marketing from Nov. 10 to Nov. 17, 2010. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, for the adult sample and plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, for the youth sample.
Read more.
Do you think you have a healthy bodyweight? What do you do to keep fit? Let us know in the comments below. If you're interested in learning more about healthy weight guidelines and body age, check out CBC's Live Right Now campaign.
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
Join our live chat to debunk health myths on Wednesday, Jan. 5 between 12 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. ET. Are you trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle but confused by all the advice and opinion out there? Send our health panel your questions. Email yournews@cbc.ca with the subject line "Busting health myths."
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