Canadians Are In Better Shape

Researchers at the CDC say obesity is far less prevalent in Canada than in the United States. And they don't really know why.

About 24 percent of Canadians are obese compared to more than 34 percent of Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released Wednesday. Researchers looked at height and weight data taken in surveys in both countries during 2007-09. The two countries have different racial demographics. The United States has more black and Hispanic people, and both have higher rates of obesity. But even looking solely at white people, there was still a big difference — a 26 percent obesity rate in Canada compared to 33 percent in the United States. It's not clear why that is, said study-co-author Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. "We share this border and many other things. It's a question we need to investigate more," said Ogden, whose co-authors included a researcher at Statistics Canada.

Interestingly, the difference in childhood obesity rates in the two nations is "statistically insignificant."