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Fat Prevention — Australia not winning this battle
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Australians are "right up there with the best of them" when it comes to obesity, according to an Australian endocrinologist.
Professor Ian Caterson, Boden professor of human nutrition at the University of Sydney, told the annual conference of Women's Health Australia that like people in the United Kingdom, 20% of Australians and New Zealanders are obese, not quite as many as in the United States, but not far behind.
Australia is not winning the prevention battle, he says. But neither are other countries except perhaps Singapore which has some success in children.
"Children must be our target, because as we get fatter, other problems develop such as diabetes and hypertension.
"Theoretically, if we could shift the weight curve in Australia towards the middle, with everyone losing just one kilogram, we could drop our health budget by about 30%.
"We would be getting rid of some diabetes, some hypertension, and some heart disease - all the things which consume time and tablets."
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