Have you noticed the waistlines of Canadians are getting bigger? A 2014 study co-authored by Laurie Twells, an associate professor in the school of pharmacy and medicine at Memorial University in St. John’s found that from 1985 to 2011, adults who are overweight in Canada grew by 21 per cent and those who are obese grew by 200 per cent. The study also predicts that by 2019 most of Canada’s adults (55.4 per cent) will be either overweight or obese.

So why are we writing about a health issue in a business magazine? Because it’s not just a health issue. A 2011 study on obesity by the Canadian Institute for Health Information stated the economic burden of obesity was between $4.6 billion and $7.1 billion. That burden was defined by direct costs to the health care system such as hospital care as well as indirect costs to productivity through premature death and short and long-term disability.

Some businesses are recognizing the risks this weighty problem could pose to their bottom line. One example is Canship Ugland Limited, a company that manages crude oil shuttle tankers for Newfoundland and Labrador’s three offshore oil fields. It has health incentive programs for its employees and even has exercise rooms on most of its fleet of nine ships. Peter Collins, the health, safety and environment manager for the company’s St. John’s office, says the goal is to help their employees live long healthy lives, but it’s also good business to encourage its workers to be active and healthy so they don’t miss time for health reasons. “When you have to replace a trained worker with somebody new, then you have to train them and that costs you time and money,” Collins says.

More businesses in Atlantic Canada might want to follow Canship Ugland’s lead. The Memorial University study’s data shows adults in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia are already among the most overweight in Canada and won’t be getting any thinner by 2019.

Percentage of Atlantic Canadian adults predicted to be overweight or obese by 2019.

Source: CMAJ Open