June 20, 2008
AUSTRALIA has overtaken the United States as the world's most obese nation, a new report says.
The report, Australia's Future Fat Bomb, says 26 per cent of adult Australians - almost 4 million people - are now obese, 1 million more than the last calculation in 1999. The findings mean Australia is the world's most overweight nation, ahead of the notoriously super-sized Americans, who have a 25 per cent obesity rate.
"That, unfortunately, makes us the heavyweight champions, a title we don't really want," said Professor Simon Stewart, the author of the report and head of preventive cardiology at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne.
The report says that 9 million adults have a body mass index over 25, making them overweight or obese, an increase from 7 million. Experts have called for obese people to be given gym discounts and for surgical waiting lists to be prioritised on the basis of weight loss.
The report presents the results of height and weight checks on 14,000 adult Australians nationwide in 2005, giving the most thorough picture of obesity since the AusDiab study in 1999. The data suggests there will be an extra 700,000 heart-related hospital admissions in the next 20 years due to obesity. Almost 125,000 people will die as a result.
"I would regard this as the biggest threat to our future health," Professor Stewart said.
"As we send our athletes off to the Olympics, let's reflect on the fact that we would win the gold medal now in the world fat Olympics if there was such a thing.
"The health care system is going to be overwhelmed by weight-related hospitalisations from knee replacements through to heart attacks and strokes."
Yeah well...if people i walk past in the street are any indicator, I'm not surprised we are a nation of FAT BASTARDS...its "spot the normal-weight". Maybe its all the beer lol
You Fat Bastard!
