Obesity in Australia - Essay Example

Table of Contents Page 1.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………2 2.0 Main body……………………………………………………………………...3 2.1 Trends of obesity in Australia………………………………………….4 2.2 Impact of obesity on the population …………………………………..5 2.3 Measures to deal with obesity problem………………………………..6 3.0 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..6 4.0 Recommendations……………………………………………………………..6 5.0 References……………………………………………………………………..7 1.0 Introduction According to the Medical Journal of Australia (2007) obesity in the country has been described as an ‘epidemic’ which requires emergence intervention to save the lives of the Australia population. This is not to say that all the people in Australia have the obesity problem but the trend at which obesity is increasing among the Australian population is alarming. Statistics indicate that as compared to infectious diseases obesity has emerged as the worst health problem among the Australian population. The related impact of obesity among the Australian population is both short and long term. Obesity is defined as the presence of excessive fats in the body which results into unwanted illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and many other related illnesses (Haslam & James, 2008). The obesity problem cuts across all the segments of the Australian population that includes the adults and the children as well as across the genders. However, the children are the most affected segment of the population to the high prevalence of junk foods in schools and shopping malls where children can easily buy and consume such foods. Obesity is measured using the BMI or the Body Mass Index criteria (Haslam & James, 2008). BMI is undertaken by dividing the weight and the height of a person (Haslam & James, 2008). BMI is perceived or considered as a reflection of the content of fats in the body of a person. The weight of a person should be in kilograms while the height should be squared when calculating the Body Mass Index or BMI (Haslam & James, 2008). A BMI of 25kg/m is considered the standard BMI. Hence, an overweight person is that with a BMI of more than 25kg/m while any person with a BMI or more than 30kg/m qualifies to be an obese person. It is important to undertake BMI measurements in order to determine whether an individual is within the overweight range or is within the obese range. In this report a number of issues will be explored among them the trend of obesity in Australia, the impact of obesity among the Australian population and the measures that can be undertaken to reduce the obesity cases and the effects of obesity from the Australian population. 2.0 Main body As stated there above, Australia has continued to witness increasing cases of obesity across the general population. Obesity results from excessive fats which accumulate in the body when the amount of energy derived from the drinks and foods consumed is not used up by the body. Hence, the imbalance that occurs between the amounts of energy derived from consumed drinks and foods and the amount of energy used up by the body paves way for overweight and obesity (Barr, et al., 2008). It is estimated that the rates of obesity in Australia over the past 5 years have doubled with more than eight million people in Australia being considered as overweight or obese. This trend is expected to rise is urgent measures are not put into place to ensure that people adopt health eating habits and engage in more vigorous exercises in order to increase the rate of energy consumption in the body. 2.1Trends of obesity in Australia (the past 5 years) According to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007 more than 60% of the adults in Australia are overweight which means that they are at risk of becoming obese (Barr, et al., 2008). As a result, Australia was ranked the third country in the world in terms of the prevalence rate of overweight among the countries of the world. Recent studies have indicated that more than 40% of women and more than 60% of men in Australia are obese which is a strong indication that this problem is escalating at an alarmingly rate. Following these recent studies it is estimated that more than 70% of the Australian population will be obese or overweight by 2012 if proper measures are not implemented to fight this problem. By 2011 trends of obesity in Australia indicate that more than 5 million Australians including children and adults have a BMI of more than 30 which qualifies them to be obese people up from 4 million people in 2007. By 2020 it is estimated that if the current trend continues unchecked more than 10 million Australians will have a BMI of more than 30 or in other words they will be obese. From a health perspective, this is a worrying trend because the current trends of obesity have resulted into more than 1 million cases of diabetes among the Australian population (Barr et al., 2008). If the rate of obesity increases further then it is evident that many Australians will contract diabetes and other heart diseases which means that in the near future the mortality rate across the Australian population will also rise significantly. In terms of the causes of premature death among the Australian population, obesity has now overtaken other causes such as smoking as compared to 5 years ago when smoking, heavy drinking and careless driving were identified as the leading cause of premature death especially among the youthful population. 2.2 Impact of obesity on the population One of the greatest impacts of obesity on Australian population is premature deaths. As mentioned earlier, there are numerous illnesses related to obesity. Such illnesses include diabetes, cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, some forms of cancer (to mention a few) (Booth et al, 2007). This diseases cut across all segments of the population resulting into numerous deaths and worsening health conditions of the affected people. The second impact of obesity is the prevalence rates health problems among the children in Australia. Studies indicate that illnesses and health problems associated with adults 5 years ago are now common among the children. Such illnesses include hypertension, high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes due to the increasing number of obese cases among the children in the Australian population. The third impact is that kidney related diseases have also risen sharply in Australia. Some of the risk factors associated with such diseases include lack of physical exercise which is also the major contributor of obesity (Booth et al, 2007). Other illnesses associated with obesity include gall bladder disease, insulin resistance, stroke, gout, cataracts, and sleep apnoea (to mention a few). All these illnesses are categorised as acute illnesses which means that obesity is a dangerous health condition in the lives of the Australian population. The fourth impact of obesity on Australian population is that it has contributed largely to the increasing costs health care. It is estimated that problems related to obesity contribute directly to $1.6 billion in health costs (Booth et al, 2007). However, the indirect costs such as continuous absenteeism from work, loss of production due to deaths of able-bodied young people and the millions of dollars spent on wellness programs by the population are also to be counted. 2.3Measures to deal with obesity problem If proper measures are not put into place, it is projected that the rate of obesity will continue rising in Australia further straining health care resources and resulting into numerous deaths. In this regard, it is imperative to note that in order to deal with the obesity problem every individual has a role to play. Some of the measures that should be taken into consideration in order to tackle obesity problem include reducing the marketing of food to children. This is important because children have got no thorough understanding of the nutritious and junk foods they are supposed to consume (Booth et al, 2007). The marketing of food should be carried out among the parents who have the power to choose what is best for their families’ consumption. The second measure is encouraging children in school and at home to participate in vigorous physical exercises. This call for continuous efforts between the teachers and the parents at home in school (Booth et al, 2007). The allocated time for physical exercise lessons in school should be utilised effectively in order to provide children with enough time to burn body fats and reduce the accumulation of body fasts in their body. The third measure is that prices of healthy foods such as whole grain, vegetables and fruits should be reduced in order to allow a large segment of the population to consume such types of health foods. This would go along way into encouraging a balanced diet in the meals consumed by the consumers. The fifth measure is to educate the parents about health eating habits and how to manage overweight problems in their families. 3.0 Conclusion Obesity has become the worst health problem in Australia. This has been fuelled by many factors among them poor eating habits and lack of physical exercise. Obesity is the major cause of premature deaths in Australia than smoking, careless driving and teen suicide. The impact of obesity is evident in all sectors of the economy. Proper measures such as educating the people on the impact of obesity on their health should be taken into consideration to alleviate obesity problem in Australia. 4.0 Recommendation Enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the obesity problem in the Australian population is the identified need that should be addressed urgently in order to deal with obesity. The government and other stakeholders should direct significant amounts of resources in educating the society about obesity in order to ensure that the people are conversant with the root causes, risk factors and the impact of obesity in the short term and in the long term. Works Cited Barr, L., et al. (2008). AusDiab: the Australian diabetes, obesity and lifestyle study International Diabetes Institute, Melbourne. Booth, M, et al. (2007). NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS) 2004 Summary Report. NSW Health. Haslam, D., & James, W. (2008). "Obesity". Lancet 366 (9492): 1197–209. Medical Journal of Australia (2007). Trends of obesity in Australia, Vol 5, No.16, pp. 45-56. World Health Organization (2007). World Trend of obesity: A case study of Australia. Read More