[22] A POPULATION HEALTH APPROACH TO OBESITY IN CANADA – PUTTING THE PROBLEM BACK INTO CONTEXT8

Overweight and obesity have become increasingly prevalent in Canada and across the world. It is now recognized as a global pandemic, even affecting developing nations. It has become increasingly important to understand how populations are affected differently and identify key determinants; therefore, the objective of this paper is to apply a population health approach to examine the problem of obesity specifically within a Canadian context. This paper applies a population health approach to examine the problem of obesity specifically within Canada. Current prevention and treatment strategies are discussed with regard to their appropriateness for decreasing the prevalence and risk factors of obesity not only at the individual level, but at the population level. In order to emphasize the interactive roles of various determinants of health, levels of influence and sectors for intervention, population health frameworks are discussed to emphasize gaps in the literature and propose directions for future research and development