Overweight and obesity
The proportion of people who are either overweight or obese is increasing worldwide, and despite decreases in the proportion of people who are physically inactive, Australians are also carrying more excess weight.
The World Health Organisation recognises that globally there was-
- a decrease in the physical energy people expend in everyday living over the second half of the 20th century. For example, there is more reliance on motorised transport, and use of labour-saving devices.
- changes in the workplace, such as increased use of computers, mean that fewer people now work in physically demanding jobs.
- there is increased demand for convenience foods which are higher in fat (especially saturated fat).
- people are also more likely now than in the past to participate in leisure activities which involve little, if any, physical activity, such as watching television. In 1997, on average, Australians spent more than half of their free time on such passive leisure activities. Watching television accounted for 36% of all free time
- between 1992 and 1997, time spent on outdoor or sporting activities decreased, particularly during the weekends (down, on average, 11 minutes for males and 8 minutes for females)
All of these factors are likely to contribute to the increase in the prevalence of overweight and obese people.
Being overweight or obese is associated with a range of illnesses -
- coronary heart disease
- Type II diabetes
- certain types of cancer
- gallbladder disease
- osteoarthritis and
- high blood pressure.
In 2001, more than 6.5 million Australian adults were overweight or obese (31% and 15% of the adult population respectively). In addition, the rate at which the population is becoming more overweight or obese has increased.
- while the proportion of overweight or obesity increased by 3 percentage points in the period 1989-90 to 1995, it increased by 6 percentage points from 1995 to 2001.
- consistent with this, the average weight of Australians increased - in 1989-90, the average weight for an Australian adult was 70.1 kilograms. In 2001, this had increased to 74.3 kilograms, equivalent to each Australian gaining more than 350g per year on average over that time.
- the proportion of adults who were overweight or obese tended to increase with age, peaking among those aged 55-64 years (59% in 2001). This was the case among both males and females (64% and 53% respectively).
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