During the 2007-to-2009 period, just under 38% of adults were at a healthy weight. About 1% were underweight, 37% were overweight and 24% were obese.

Proportionally, many more adult men than adult women were overweight. However, roughly equal proportions of both sexes were rated as obese.

On average, the BMI of Canadians was lower than that of Americans, especially in two age groups: 20 to 39 and 40 to 59. Differences were not significant in the age group 60 to 79.

Moving beyond the BMI, abdominal obesity, as reflected by a high waist circumference, is now regarded as the factor that indicates the greatest health risk related to obesity.

On the basis of their waist circumference, 31% of women and 21% of men aged 20 to 39 were considered to be at high risk for health problems. By the age of 60 to 69, the proportions were more than twice as high: 65% of women and 52% of men.

About 32% of Canadian men and women aged 15 to 69 were categorized as having a "good" health benefit level, based on their aerobic fitness ratings. Larger proportions of adults have a "fair" and "needs improvement" rating (40% of men and 47% of women) than an "excellent" or "very good" rating (27% of men and 22% of women).