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"Bronzed Aussies no longer" as obesity spreads Down Under Mon May
5, 3:19 AM ET SYDNEY (AFP) - Obesity has more than
doubled in Australia over the past 20 years as people give up national pastimes
like surfing and bushwalking to watch more television, according to a survey
released. The survey of 11,247 people found 39
percent of Australians were overweight and 20.8 percent obese -- 2.5 times the
levels found in the last comparable study conducted in 1980. The survey's researchers, from three
Australian universities and the International Diabetes Institute, published
their results Monday in the Medical Journal of Australia, warning that the rise
in obesity would bring soaring levels of heart disease and diabetes. "Australia has been shown to have
alarming rates of both central and general obesity," the researchers said.
"This urgently demands action on many levels to prevent further rises in
the prevalence of diseases such as type two diabetes." The survey placed most of the blame on a
drop in sports and other physical activities and an increase in the hours
Australians spend in front of the television. "Lower educational status, higher
television viewing time and lower physical activity time were each strongly
associated with obesity, with television viewing time showing a stronger
relationship than physical activity time," the survey said. The latest figures put Australia into
the same fat league as Germany and Britain, but left the country trailing the
world's obesity superpower, the United States. The data also dealt a blow to the
portrayal of Australia as a nation of suntanned athletes and rugged
outdoorspeople. Public broadcaster ABC titled its
coverage of the survey: "'Bronzed Aussies' No Longer," while the
study's authors recommended reinstating sports sessions in public school
curricula and building more sporting grounds nationwide. |