As his growing girth becomes the subject of endless speculation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper admits he is enduring an ongoing battle of the bulge.

"When I was young I was very thin," he told television host Claude Charron during an interview for Quebec network TVA Monday.

Responding to pointed questions from Charron, Harper admitted he ate well at 24 Sussex Drive, before adding that his weight was the "problem of my life."

With Health Canada urging millions of Canadians to slim down, Charron asked whether the prime minister shouldn't be setting a better example.

"I'll have to consider that," he responded with an awkward chuckle.

Harper's bulging midsection has been the subject of several unflattering photos and editorial cartoons -- with the front pages of Canadian newspapers showing him looking at his food tray holding a can of pop as he sat down with troops in Afghanistan last week.

Other candid pictures of his visit to Kandahar showed his shirt straining against the visible spare tire around his middle.

As Harper toured the troubled Afghan war zone, his own personal battle of the bulge at times even seemed to overshadow his morale-boosting message.

An editorial cartoon in Quebec's La Presse newspaper on Tuesday -- the day after Harper made a speech to 1,000 troops -- showed the prime minister with an oversized paunch.

In the cartoon, Harper is shown explaining that he's sporting a new model of a bulletproof vest that's meant to be worn under the shirt.

The prime minister's portly stature has also created a buzz on the Internet, where it's suddenly become a subject of discussion on numerous blogs.

Ottawa image consultant Bernie Gauthier says Harper's candid admission was the right way to reach out to Canadians who may have perceived him to be a distant ideologue up until now.

"I don't know if it was a strategy, but it was the right thing to do in the sense that he just opened up and admitted that yes, this is something he struggled with," Gauthier said, appearing on CTV Newsnet.

"And good for him, because I think in a way now a lot of Canadians can identify with him in a way they couldn't before, so this is a positive for him.

"And if he can turn it into a movement towards health it will be an even more positive thing for him."

Harper is not the first Canadian prime minister to admit to struggling with his weight.

Former Liberal leader Paul Martin revealed last year that he was following a low carbohydrate diet after his wife Sheila pointed out his growing girth.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton also revealed that he was overweight as a child -- weighing in at a hefty 210 pounds when he was just 15.