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Self-reported adult body mass index (BMI), by age group and sex, household population aged 18 and over excluding pregnant females, Canada, 2005


                           Self-reported adult body mass index
  Total Underweight, BMI under 18.50 Normal weight, BMI 18.50 to 24.99 Overweight, BMI 25.00 to 29.99 Obese, BMI  30.00 or higher Not stated
   number % number % number % number % number %
Total, 18 years and over 24,341,395 658,291 2.7 11,250,230 46.2 8,132,642 33.4 3,764,664 15.5 535,569 2.2
Males 12,053,251 132,106 1.1 4,885,947 40.5 4,926,770 40.9 2,022,338 16.8 86,090 0.7
Females 12,288,144 526,184 4.3 6,364,283 51.8 3,205,872 26.1 1,742,326 14.2 449,479 3.7
18 to 34 years 7,033,144 332,254 4.7 3,969,101 56.4 1,794,568 25.5 780,806 11.1 156,414 2.2
Males 3,608,679 73,020 2.0 1,870,740 51.8 1,191,698 33.0 445,043 12.3 28,177 0.8
Females 3,424,465 259,234 7.6 2,098,361 61.3 602,870 17.6 335,763 9.8 128,237 3.7
18 to 24 years 3,010,895 199,986 6.6 1,905,562 63.3 621,244 20.6 225,166 7.5 58,937 2.0
Males 1,565,189 51,387 3.3 955,243 61.0 413,111 26.4 132,361 8.5 13,088 E 0.8 E
Females 1,445,706 148,599 10.3 950,319 65.7 208,133 14.4 92,806 6.4 45,849 3.2
18 to 19 years 808,066 74,534 9.2 529,252 65.5 139,746 17.3 45,553 5.6 18,981 2.3
Males 397,608 21,123 E 5.3 E 258,394 65.0 87,544 22.0 25,796 6.5 4,751 E 1.2 E
Females 410,457 53,411 13.0 270,858 66.0 52,202 12.7 19,757 4.8 14,229 3.5
20 to 24 years 2,202,829 125,452 5.7 1,376,310 62.5 481,498 21.9 179,613 8.2 39,956 1.8
Males 1,167,581 30,264 2.6 696,849 59.7 325,567 27.9 106,564 9.1 8,336 E 0.7 E
Females 1,035,248 95,188 9.2 679,462 65.6 155,931 15.1 73,049 7.1 31,620 3.1
25 to 34 years 4,022,249 132,268 3.3 2,063,539 51.3 1,173,325 29.2 555,640 13.8 97,477 2.4
Males 2,043,490 21,633 1.1 915,497 44.8 778,587 38.1 312,683 15.3 15,089 E 0.7 E
Females 1,978,759 110,635 5.6 1,148,042 58.0 394,737 19.9 242,957 12.3 82,388 4.2
35 to 44 years 5,044,685 109,913 2.2 2,319,019 46.0 1,727,051 34.2 782,675 15.5 106,028 2.1
Males 2,573,924 17,547 E 0.7 E 953,545 37.0 1,133,559 44.0 453,557 17.6 15,715 E 0.6 E
Females 2,470,761 92,365 3.7 1,365,474 55.3 593,492 24.0 329,118 13.3 90,312 3.7
45 to 64 years 8,335,258 112,685 1.4 3,306,181 39.7 3,130,389 37.6 1,607,031 19.3 178,971 2.1
Males 4,122,741 21,578 0.5 1,379,152 33.5 1,837,195 44.6 863,390 20.9 21,426 0.5
Females 4,212,517 91,108 2.2 1,927,029 45.7 1,293,194 30.7 743,641 17.7 157,546 3.7
45 to 54 years 4,780,417 64,226 1.3 2,012,038 42.1 1,708,421 35.7 884,955 18.5 110,776 2.3
Males 2,343,864 11,047 E 0.5 E 808,779 34.5 1,037,254 44.3 474,717 20.3 12,068 E 0.5 E
Females 2,436,553 53,180 2.2 1,203,260 49.4 671,167 27.5 410,239 16.8 98,708 4.1
55 to 64 years 3,554,841 48,459 1.4 1,294,143 36.4 1,421,968 40.0 722,076 20.3 68,195 1.9
Males 1,778,877 10,531 E 0.6 E 570,374 32.1 799,941 45.0 388,674 21.8 9,358 E 0.5 E
Females 1,775,964 37,928 2.1 723,769 40.8 622,028 35.0 333,402 18.8 58,837 3.3
65 years and over 3,928,308 103,438 2.6 1,655,929 42.2 1,480,633 37.7 594,152 15.1 94,156 2.4
Males 1,747,908 19,961 1.1 682,510 39.0 764,318 43.7 260,347 14.9 20,772 1.2
Females 2,180,401 83,477 3.8 973,419 44.6 716,316 32.9 333,805 15.3 73,384 3.4
65 to 74 years 2,244,943 37,721 1.7 854,331 38.1 912,821 40.7 395,828 17.6 44,241 2.0
Males 1,068,532 7,451 E 0.7 E 374,941 35.1 490,788 45.9 185,885 17.4 9,467 E 0.9 E
Females 1,176,411 30,270 2.6 479,390 40.8 422,033 35.9 209,943 17.8 34,775 3.0
75 years and over 1,683,365 65,717 3.9 801,598 47.6 567,812 33.7 198,324 11.8 49,915 3.0
Males 679,376 12,510 1.8 307,569 45.3 273,530 40.3 74,462 11.0 11,305 E 1.7 E
Females 1,003,989 53,207 5.3 494,029 49.2 294,282 29.3 123,862 12.3 38,609 3.8

1. Body mass index (BMI) is a method of classifying body weight according to health risk. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Canada guidelines, health risk levels are associated with each of the following BMI categories: normal weight = least health risk; underweight and overweight = increased health risk; obese, class I = high health risk; obese, class II = very high health risk; obese, class III = extremely high health risk.
2. Body mass index (BMI) is calculated by dividing the respondent's body weight (in kilograms) by their height (in metres) squared.
3. A definition change was implemented in 2004 to conform with World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Canada guidelines for body weight classification. The index is calculated for the population aged 18 and over, excluding pregnant females and persons less than 3 feet (0.914 metres) tall or greater than 6 feet 11 inches (2.108 metres).
4. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Canada guidelines, the index for body weight classification is: less than 18.50 (underweight); 18.50 to 24.99 (normal weight); 25.00 to 29.99 (overweight); 30.00 to 34.99 (obese, class I); 35.00 to 39.99 (obese, class II); 40.00 or greater (obese, class III).
5. When comparing estimates, it is important to use confidence intervals to determine if differences between values are statistically significant. Confidence intervals describe sampling variability and give an indication of the precision of a given estimate.
6. Bootstrapping techniques were used to produce the coefficient of variation (CV) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
7. Data with a coefficient of variation (CV) from 16.6% to 33.3% are identified as follows: (E) use with caution.
8. Data with a coefficient of variation (CV) greater than 33.3% were suppressed due to extreme sampling variability and are identified as follows: (F) too unreliable to be published.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 3.1), 2005 (CANSIM table 105-0409).