Global obesity rates have increased so dramatically in the past decade that obesity is often called a pandemic. In Canada, almost two-thirds of adults, and one-third of children and youth, are overweight or living with obesity. We have heard obesity referred to as “the next tobacco” for public health.

Obesity is a significant risk factor for over 200 chronic illnesses including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, respiratory disease, cancer and mental health conditions – hence obesity being called “Metabolic Syndrome”. Individuals with obesity have significantly higher rates of doctor visits, specialist consultations, emergency room visits, hospital stays, and prescription drug use, compared to those with a healthy weight.

A new Statistics Canada report found that only 9% of Canadians were obese in 1981, rising to 27% in 2018, and the most recent estimates from 2022 suggest that 30% of Canadians today are obese.

It’s not just current obesity that’s the problem: ever having been obese carries continued health and disability problems. “The trajectory of body weight across the lifespan is important to consider when assessing risk for developing disease later in life,” writes StatCan. “While improvements in cardiovascular disease are evident after weight loss, studies have shown that some arterial damage persists.” Those who’ve experienced a major weight fluctuation in their lifetime have a 1.6 times higher risk of having mobility or musculoskeletal problems, such as arthritis, later in life.

Failure to recognize obesity as a chronic, progressive disease has substantial economic implications, according to new Obesity Canada data. Beyond direct healthcare implications, workplace productivity costs reach an estimated $21.7 billion due to increased absenteeism and presenteeism (i.e., lost productivity due to employees not fully functioning at work due to illness, injury, or other condition), reduced productivity, and lower workforce participation. Women with obesity have incomes 5% below the Canadian female average.

Dr. Kenneth Stanton is a financial economist based in Barrie, Ontario. A specialist in economic impact analysis, he has appeared as an expert witness in many court cases and presented to numerous US state and federal legislatures. He co-developed the University of Baltimore Obesity Report Card and the Childhood Obesity Report Card, which scored US states on their legislative

efforts to address obesity. He led a team of experts focused on analyzing and addressing the obesity pandemic, resulting in multiple academic publications as well as a book, Obesity, Business and Public Policy. “We now understand that excess weight cannot be attributed to a single factor or a moral failing. Social, genetic, biobehavioral, economic, and policy factors interact to produce what is called an ‘infrastructure of obesity,’” he says.

Personal injury, disability and medical malpractice lawyers need to consider obesity when assessing plaintiffs’ claims.

  • Although the latest definition of obesity clearly states that the disease is not only about an individual’s size or weight, the most-used obesity metric continues to be the imprecise Body Mass Index (BMI) classification, reflecting a widening gap between evolving scientific definitions and dated current practices.
  • Medical professionals should ensure their patients receive evidence-based, patient-centered care by adhering to the 2020 Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines, the first update since 2007 and adopted by several other countries.
  • The proposed clearer diagnoses could help doctors decide when best to prescribe the GLP-1 class of drugs based on individual risk, and result in health insurers considering coverage for the drugs for clinical obesity alone. Many health insurers currently require another related condition to be present, like diabetes.
  • The likelihood of an obese plaintiff developing other chronic conditions needs to be a factor when assessing damages.