Posted on 06/19/2008 8:08:26 AM PDT by AreaMan
Australia has a higher proportion of obese people than the United States, with the health system facing a "fat bomb" unless action is taken, a study warned Thursday.
The report from the Baker Heart Institute found that 70 percent of men and 60 percent of women aged 45-65 had a body mass index of 25 or more, meaning they were overweight or obese.
Titled "Australia's Future Fat Bomb," the study compiled the results of height and weight checks carried out on 14,000 adult Australians in 2005.
The institute's head of preventative cardiology professor Simon Stewart said the results meant Australia probably had the highest rate of obesity in the world, outweighing even the United States.
"As we send our athletes off to the Olympics let's reflect on the fact that we would win the gold medal problem now in the world fat Olympics if there was such a thing," he said.
Stewart said obesity was the major threat to Australia's future health, with an estimated nine million of the 21 million population obese or overweight.
"That is a whole million more obese adults than we had thought," he said.
The study predicted there would be an extra 700,000 heart-related hospital admissions in the next 20 years due to obesity and almost 125,000 people would die because of the condition in that period.
The report calls for a national weightloss strategy on the scale of smoking and skin cancer campaigns, including subsidising gym memberships and personal training sessions.
It suggested hospital waiting lists could be prioritised on the basis of weightloss, to give obese people incentive to slim down.
"These are some of the controversial things we need to deal with because the healthcare system is going to be overwhelmed by weight-related hospitalisations from knee replacements through to heart attacks and strokes," Stewart said.
The report was submitted to a federal government inquiry into obesity.
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Those Roo-burgers must be really good :-)
Congrats to the downunders!
Congrats! It’s a sign of prosperity!
Wouldn't want to be around when one of those explodes.
More like a sign of Idiocracy (Would you like another EXTRA BIG ASS FRIES?).
We’re slipping.
C’mon America, get eatin’!!
USA USA USA
More like those Bloomin’ Onions like the ones at Outback Steakhouse:
Serving Size: whole; Calories: 2310, Total Fat: 134g, Carbs: 241g, Protein: 35g
HARDEY HAR HAR!!!
All those jokes about greedy Americans...
TAKE THAT!
Now seriously, lose some weight. We don’t want you to die or nothing.
Beeeeaa
Get as far as Perth, and you'll almost pass out from lack of blood to the brain...
Exactly. They have better beer so they drink more.
| Rank | Country | Consumption[a] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (L/yr) | US Gallon/yr | Keg/yr | ||
| 1 |  Czech Republic |
156.9 | 41.5 | 2.67 |
| 2 |  Ireland |
131.1 | 34.7 | 2.24 |
| 3 |  Germany |
115.8 | 30.6 | 1.97 |
| 4 |  Australia |
109.9 | 29.0 | 1.87 |
| 5 |  Austria |
108.3 | 28.6 | 1.85 |
| 6 |  United Kingdom |
99.0 | 26.2 | 1.69 |
| 7 |  Slovenia |
93.3[1] | 24.7 | 1.59 |
| 8 |  Belgium |
93.0 | 24.6 | 1.59 |
| 9 |  Denmark |
89.9 | 23.8 | 1.53 |
| 10 |  Finland |
85.0 | 22.5 | 1.45 |
| 11 |  Luxembourg |
84.4 | 22.3 | 1.44 |
| 12 |  Slovakia |
84.1 | 22.2 | 1.43 |
| 13 |  Spain |
83.8 | 22.1 | 1.43 |
| 14 |  United States |
81.6 | 21.6 | 1.39 |
| 15 |  Croatia |
81.2 | 21.5 | 1.38 |
| 16 |  Netherlands |
79.0 | 20.9 | 1.35 |
| 17 |  New Zealand |
77.0 | 20.4 | 1.31 |
| 18 |  Iceland |
75.99[2] | 15.8 | 1.02 |
| 19 |  Hungary |
75.3 | 19.9 | 1.28 |
| 20 |  Poland |
69.1 | 18.3 | 1.18 |
| 21 |  Canada |
68.3 | 18.1 | 1.16 |
| 22 |  Portugal |
59.6 | 15.8 | 1.02 |
| 23 |  Bulgaria |
59.5 | 15.7 | 1.01 |
| 24 |  South Africa |
59.2 | 15.6 | 1.01 |
| 25 |  Russia |
58.9 | 15.6 | 1.00 |
| 26 |  Venezuela |
58.6 | 15.5 | 1.00 |
| 27 |  Romania |
58.2 | 15.4 | 0.99 |
| 28 |  Cyprus |
58.1 | 15.4 | 0.99 |
| 29 |  Switzerland |
57.3 | 15.1 | 0.98 |
| 30 |  Gabon |
55.8 | 14.7 | 0.95 |
| 31 |  Norway |
55.5 | 14.7 | 0.95 |
| 32 |  Mexico |
51.8 | 13.7 | 0.88 |
| 33 |  Sweden |
51.5 | 13.6 | 0.88 |
| 34 |  Japan |
51.3 | 13.6 | 0.87 |
| 35 |  Brazil |
47.6 | 12.6 | 0.81 |
| 36 |  South Korea |
38.5 | 10.2 | 0.66 |
| 37 |  Colombia |
36.8 | 9.7 | 0.63 |
| 38 |  France |
33.7[3] | 8.9 | 0.57 |
Nice to know we are the world’s benchmark on obesity
Too hot and scary to move.
Wow. We’re pikers compared with the Czechs. Nearly a Gallon a week !
My Grandma who came from the “Old Country” always thought it was hilarious that poor people were fat and that rich people were thin in America.
She could also never understand how poor people have cars and TV’s because doesn’t that make them rich?
Sure they are obese. You cannot eat a North European diet in the tropics and you better be careful with the sun too. Australia is mostly pale Anglos transplanted to the tropics and near tropics. Eat too much meat and junk starches and you have problems
In contrast the Aborigines can probably walk around near naked and eat lots of meat and thrive
And 50% of Europe is “obese”.
Maybe the BMI scale is wrong to dictate that men and women should weigh the same.
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