Overview

• Obesity growth accelerated to just over 1 percentage point per year from 2020 to 2023, double the 0.5-point pace seen before the pandemic.
• Overall obesity prevalence climbed from 25% in 2009 to 33% by 2022, while severe obesity nearly doubled from 2.4% to almost 5% between 2009 and 2023.
• Young adults aged 18 to 39—especially women—saw the sharpest increases, with the youngest cohort’s obesity rate rising 4.7% during the pandemic years.
• Researchers analyzed 15 years of BMI data from 746,250 Canadian adults, linking pandemic restrictions and lifestyle shifts to the surge in obesity.
• Study authors urge targeted prevention and treatment policies and recommend further evaluation of new obesity medications’ long-term impacts.