Girth of a nation: Canada trails U.S. in obesity rates

"Who are you calling fat? Canadians may be losing the battle of the bulge, but we're still slimmer on average than our supersized cousins to the south. A new Statistics Canada survey found that between 2007 and 2009, 24.1% of adults in Canada were obese. In the U.S. that number was 34.4%. The gap was widest for women: 23.9% of Canadian women qualified as obese, compared to 36.2% of American women. Of Canadian men, 24.3% were obese, while 32.6% of American men tipped the scales. But Canadians have no reason to feel smug about their comparative lack of bulk, said one obesity doctor. Dr. Arya Sharma, professor of medicine and chair for cardiovascular obesity research and management at the University of Alberta, said Canada is eating its way into a public health crisis"