Australia Climbs In Obesity Rankings

[icyfroth]

The rapidly increasing number of overweight Australians has seen the country overtake Canada in the obesity rankings, with 28.3 percent of adults tipping the scales.

Australia is behind the United States, Mexico and New Zealand in the OECD's annual ‘Health at a Glance’ report.

Despite this, Australia ranks 18th when it comes to children being overweight, below the OECD average.

The OECD shows a negligible gender gap for obesity in Australia, while women in countries like Mexico, Chile, South Africa and Turkey are much more likely to be overweight.

India, Indonesia and China have the lowest rate of obesity in the OECD.

Australia is number one for fruit and vegetable consumption, while Finland, which has substantially fewer obese people, is at the bottom of the rankings.

Australia also has one of the lowest rates of smoking, with only 15 percent of people having a cigarette daily.

Life expectancy at birth in Australia is 82 years old, the seventh best in the OECD and two years higher than average.

Click Here To View Article

Hmmm. I wish I'd read this before I had a slice of Christmas cake for my morning tea.

[acacia_pycnantha]

Wolfey . . .  'the men who made us fat'' are those people who produce and market highly processed Mcfood and Mcdrinks, and advertise them as "the real thing".

[freshwater-2]

Apart from not stuffing your face with junk food, there is one exercise that will solve an overweight problem.

While sitting at the dinner table, put your hands on the edge of the table......and push.

[spotweldersfriend]

Not good enough Australia.Lift your game!! We should at least be in the top ten.

[***super_nova***]

There are many reasons, and I agree that the processed food is a major one, but also we just do not walk as much.  Even only some 15 years ago there used to be lots of kids walking or cycling to the local primary school, which is only just about 100 yards around the corner.  When I had a new puppy that i wanted to socialised I used to go for a little walk at 3.30 and all the kids would stop and pet her.  This year I took my recent pup on lovely sunny early April day and there was nobody walking.  I stopped to talk to an old man working in his garden and he just laughed and pointed at a 4wd going past us; it was a woman who lives in the next street and he saw her going to the schools few minutes earlier and now she was coming back with the kids, she does that every day.  It is about 200m drive!!!  We live in quite area with only local traffic.

We are constantly bombarded by food ads, and we eat much more than we need to.  I am lucky, i am not particularly fond of sweet stuff, and I actually like unprocessed food.  In supermarket I walk up the meat section,stop at the deli to get my plain yogurt, get the milk, bread and that is that.  When needed I get some laundry stuff or tea, but overall as far as I am concerned the rest of the supermarket does not need to exist.  I buy my veg & fruit in the growers market, because it is much cheaper there.

And yes, I have also noticed that if you look seriously overweight person with huge blobby kids, their trolley will be full of junk and softdrinks.

The problem is that people get their food habits in the first few years of their lives, and mothers giving kids softdrinks and sweets, especially giving them as a reward is priming these kids for unhealthy eating.  Kids programs are full of ads for processed food, brainwashing them into believing that to have fun they need junk food full of sugar, and worse of all it is saying that it is "healthy".

And sugar seems to be added into everything; recently I bought a new brand of a plain yogurt "naturally sweet" the label said, well it was so sweet, it tasted more like icecream than a plain yogurt.  There is no way I wanted to eat that, and when i offered it to my dogs, who love plain yogurt, they did not want it either.

[bright.ton42]

Wish my dogs were as selective as your dogs supernova as they love youghurt with anything. But it makes me see red

when I buy yoghurt that's labelled as Diet or Lite and it's laden with sugar. And not just youghurt of course.  We just have to keep peering at the labels on foods.  

[kennedia_nigricans]

---

@***super_nova*** wrote:

There are many reasons, and I agree that the processed food is a major one, but also we just do not walk as much.  Even only some 15 years ago there used to be lots of kids walking or cycling to the local primary school, which is only just about 100 yards around the corner.  When I had a new puppy that i wanted to socialised I used to go for a little walk at 3.30 and all the kids would stop and pet her.  This year I took my recent pup on lovely sunny early April day and there was nobody walking.  I stopped to talk to an old man working in his garden and he just laughed and pointed at a 4wd going past us; it was a woman who lives in the next street and he saw her going to the schools few minutes earlier and now she was coming back with the kids, she does that every day.  It is about 200m drive!!!  We live in quite area with only local traffic.

We are constantly bombarded by food ads, and we eat much more than we need to.  I am lucky, i am not particularly fond of sweet stuff, and I actually like unprocessed food.  In supermarket I walk up the meat section,stop at the deli to get my plain yogurt, get the milk, bread and that is that.  When needed I get some laundry stuff or tea, but overall as far as I am concerned the rest of the supermarket does not need to exist.  I buy my veg & fruit in the growers market, because it is much cheaper there.

And yes, I have also noticed that if you look seriously overweight person with huge blobby kids, their trolley will be full of junk and softdrinks.

The problem is that people get their food habits in the first few years of their lives, and mothers giving kids softdrinks and sweets, especially giving them as a reward is priming these kids for unhealthy eating.  Kids programs are full of ads for processed food, brainwashing them into believing that to have fun they need junk food full of sugar, and worse of all it is saying that it is "healthy".

And sugar seems to be added into everything; recently I bought a new brand of a plain yogurt "naturally sweet" the label said, well it was so sweet, it tasted more like icecream than a plain yogurt.  There is no way I wanted to eat that, and when i offered it to my dogs, who love plain yogurt, they did not want it either.

---

i agree, there is just one problem and that is that riding a bike on the street nowadays is somewhat suicidal (especially with those mad SUV drivers around).

i tried it and was scared bleepless. also the ozone hole does not make it exactly healthy to be out in the sun without a big hat (i am the freckly type and don't dare venturing out without strong sun screen, a big hat and if possible long sleeves (yes ALL of that, not just one of them)).

[kennedia_nigricans]

years ago when SUVs became fashionable there was an article about  a 30 km/h zone in front of a kindergarten or primary school (can't remember), the police standing there and catching people who would not obey the 30 km/h.

...guess what?

most people they fined were mums taking/picking up their kids to said school/kindergarten.

i guess it's alright to speed with  a tank-like car in front of a kindergarten as long as you don't hit your own children.

[joz*garage]

ithere is just one problem and that is that riding a bike on the street nowadays is somewhat suicidal (especially with those mad SUV drivers around).

riding back and forth to work from como to maddington at 15 - 17 years of age, well it was my general form of transportation back then too

it was dangerous riding at times some vehicles just barely missing me, especially buses

seems times havent changed, but it wont alter my desire of getting into another bike though

[kennedia_nigricans]

i have to admit that i am not old enough to know how it was 30 years ago but there certainly is more traffic around than 30 years ago and people in SUVs drive like bleeps cos they are save in their tanks never mind the people they hit...

i admire your mindset to die young and fast

[joz*garage]

ha ha, i'll be riding on safe bike paths or walk paths evu, plenty around here purely for excercise and for a bit of sight seeing too (you know pretty girls)

it will come in handy too, for example - when i need to take the car in for service, load the boot with the bike take a risk & ride home

any form of bikes are dangerous on the roads (& motorised) since way back the introduction of the car