Stats Canada says more than half of the adults who live in the Grey Bruce health region are overweight, and one out of five is considered obese.
The new information is part of the Canadian Community Health Survey the largest study of the health of Canadians conducted by the federal government.
18.2% of the adult males and 22.4% of the females in the Grey Bruce health region are considered obese.
In total, 57.7% of the adult population was considered over their acceptable weight: 62.8% among men and 52.5% among women.
Those figures are dramatically higher than the rest of the country.
Across Canada, the national obesity rate in 2007 was 16.0% and 32.4%were considered overweight but not obese.
At the Grey Bruce health Unit, the Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hazel Lynn says the good news in the survey included a drop in smoking rates and more people were getting active.
She blames diet for a lot of the difference between obesity rates here and the rest of Canada.
The message to residents she says is get active and cut down on the portion size of the food you eat.
The Stats Canada survey bases its findings on the body mass index.
A person is overweight if their body mass index is over 25; a person is obese if their BMI is 30 or more.
For example, a person who is 5-11 and weighs 215 pounds would have a BMI of 30.0 and would therefore be considered obese.
The survey also found that in the Grey Bruce health region, 47.1% of the population described themselves as physically active.
36.7% of adults say they spend 15 hours or more a week watching TV and 16.3% use a computer 11 hours or more each week.
