Canadian adults, both men and women, are the most obese in a survey of 63 nations that raises new health warnings for our country.

A whopping 36 per cent of Canadian men and women seen in family doctors' offices are obese, compared to just seven per cent in eastern Asia, the massive study says. And a further 40 per cent of the Canadian men who saw their doctor, and about 30 per cent of the women, were overweight, though not obese.

As well, Canadian men in the survey had the largest waistlines in the 63 nations, a major indicator of health problems to come. Canadian women were above average, but not the biggest.

In a survey of obesity in 63 nations, Canadians came out on top. The American Heart Association study says obesity is linked to health problems.

Agence France-Presse, Getty Images

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However, it's not a global survey, as a few countries with known weight problems, in particular the U.S., were not included.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list an obesity rate of 32.9 per cent of American adults in 2003-04.

But the results published by the American Heart Association's medical journal, Circulation, still represent bad news for Canadian hearts.

Montreal cardiologist Jean-Pierre Despres said although 36 per cent of Canadians in the survey were obese, this doesn't represent the overall adult population. Health Canada says the national obesity rate is about 23 per cent.

"But that's far from reassuring," said Despres, speaking for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

The high rate of obesity in doctors' offices shows it's the heaviest Canadians who are sickest, he said. "And if you go to a cardiovascular (unit), the number would be even higher."

The survey's biggest news, he said, is family doctors can accurately measure waistlines and can use this as a tool to learn who is most at risk of heart trouble and diabetes.

"This is the largest study to assess the frequency of adiposity (body fat) in the clinic, providing a snapshot of patients worldwide," said study lead author Beverley Balkau, director of research at INSERM -- France's national institute of health research.

The study gathered data from 168,159 people (including 3,062 Canadians) from 18 to 80 years old (with an average age 48) in 63 countries.

Family doctors were asked to check the BMI of every patient who came to see them on two half-days in 2005.

"The more obese, the fatter you are, so supposedly the worse (problem) it is," said Dr. Gerald Fletcher, a cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic who is familiar with the survey.

The big waists seen in Canadian men -- a median of about 100.3 centimetres, meaning half the men were bigger and half smaller -- is a huge matter of concern, he said.

The measure is taken halfway between the lowest rib and the hip bone, which is higher than the waist on a pair of pants.

"The abdominal obesity they looked at -- that's the waist circumference -- is another type of obesity which is even more devastating" than overall weight, he said. Recent research has found not all fat affects the body the same way. Low-slung fat on the hips and thighs is less likely to cause health problems than fat in the abdomen, which dramatically raises the risk of diabetes and heart disease.