While the proportion of Australians considered overweight (but not obese) has fallen in the past four years,about a third of Australian adults – or 6.3 million people – were considered obese at the last census. It was 3.9 million people a decade ago.
Andrew Wilson has lost 70 kilograms since 2020,and believes weight stigma is stopping many people from seeking help for obesityDean Sewell
The growth is mainly being driven by those in the highest-risk category,which has jumped 48 per cent since 2012,and moderate risk obesity,which rose by 23 per cent over the same period,a new analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data by the Obesity Collective shows.
People with a body mass index above 40 are considered high-risk and those between 35 and 39.9 are considered to be at moderate risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes,dementia,asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Experts say unhealthier food options,increasing mental health issues and inadequate training for medical professionals treating obesity have all contributed to the rise.
“The health system too often treats the symptoms and not the underlying health and mental health issues driving weight gain,” said Professor Louise Baur,a consultant paediatrician at the University of Sydney and president of the World Obesity Federation. “We hear countless stories of people being told to simply exercise and eat better when there is always more than meets the eye with obesity.”
Andrew Wilson in 2020.Rhett Wyman
Andrew Wilson didn’t see a doctor for almost a decade after a conversation with his local GP inflamed the shame and stigma he already felt about his weight.
He said many people who were overweight sought help but,instead of being screened for underlying mental health,genetic and environmental factors,they were simply told to “move more,eat less”.
Only after checking in to a metabolic clinic at Nepean Hospital,and addressing a childhood trauma with a psychologist,could Wilson break the cycle of losing weight and immediately putting it back on again.
He has lost 70 kilograms in three years and now leads “walk and talk” groups for men in his Blue Mountains community.
“Food was a coping mechanism for me since I was a kid. If you take that away from me … what’s there to replace it?” he said. “Learning myself what obesity actually was – that made a big difference.”
A constant bombardment of junk-food advertising has made it difficult even for diet-conscious parents to control what their children are eating,said Theresa Thompson,a regional NSW mother who has dealt with weight issues since her early teens.
“I’m trying to teach and guide my children with all that noise in the background,” she said. “It’s just constant.”
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler last year commissioned health experts at the University of Wollongong to conduct a feasibility study for policies to restrict junk-food advertising and packaging. Public consultation on the is open until March 15.
Dr Sophie Scamps,the independent federal MP who introduced a private member’s bill to ban junk-food advertising,said restricting marketing was not radical and would give parents a “fighting chance to teach their kids to make healthy choices”.
“Unhealthy eating is a societal problem,not a personal choice,and it’s being fuelled by an industry that peddles unhealthy food in the pursuit of profit at every opportunity,” she said.
A quarter of Australian children are now obese or overweight,ABS figures reveal,with the Global Obesity Observatory the disorder to cost the Australian economy $235 billion by 2060.