AUSTRALIA has overtaken the United States as the world's most obese nation, a new report says. The report, Australia's Future Fat Bomb, says 26 per cent of adult Australians - almost 4 million people - are now obese, 1 million more than the last calculation in 1999.
Media Release - 16 November 2020
The Heart Foundation said the findings were a concern for Australians' heart health. Findings include: Aussie men are the second most obese in OECD countries - Aussie men have the second highest rates of obesity (32%) among 23 OECD countries, behind the USA (38%).
Comparisons for measured body weight are based on data from 2021 or the latest available year (OECD 2022). Australia ranked 9th out of 21 countries with available data for the proportion of people aged 15 and over who were living with overweight or obesity (65%) – this was greater than the OECD average of 60%.
Soaring obesity rates make the US the fattest country in the OECD. Overweight and obesity rates have increased steadily since the 1980s in both men and women. Three out of four people are projected by the OECD to be overweight or obese within 10 years.
The most obese country by percentage of obese adults is Nauru, with 61% of adults falling in the obese category. Cook Islands fllows with 55.9%, and Palau just under that at 55.3%. Three other countries have adult populations that are over 50% obese: the Marshall Islands (52.9%), Tuvalu (51.6%), and Niue (50%).
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the most obese countries are primarily located in the Pacific and the Middle East. The Pacific island nations of Nauru, Cook Islands, and Palau have the highest rates of obesity, with over 30% of their populations being classified as obese.
However, despite all of these factors, America doesn't even rank in the top ten healthiest countries globally. It doesn't even rank within the top twenty. In fact, America is rated #35 out of 169 countries in terms of overall citizen health.
The arrival of fast food restaurants and other contemporary food items on the islands are one of the issues responsible for the obesity in Samoa. The earliest photographs of Samoans provide visual proof of the native population's natural physique before the introduction of processed foods by Western society.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' National Health Survey from 2017–18 revealed that 67 per cent of Australian adults were overweight or obese (12.5 million people), an increase from 63.4 per cent since 2014-15.
The rise in obesity has been attributed to poor eating habits in the country closely related to the availability of fast food since the 1970s, sedentary lifestyles and a decrease in the labour workforce.
In 2017-18, two thirds (67.0%) of Australian adults were overweight or obese (12.5 million people), an increase from 63.4% in 2014-15. There was a large increase for those aged 18-24 years, with 38.9% overweight or obese in 2014-15 compared with 46.0% in 2017-18.
Australians collected a higher median wealth per adult than anywhere else in the world at $US273,900 ($A390,870) – nearly three times the median wealth of $US93,270 ($A133,100) in the US. Australia was followed on the rich list by Belgium and New Zealand, with the US trailing behind at number 18.
In 2017-18, 67.0% of Australian adults were overweight or obese. Tasmania had the highest rate of adults who were overweight or obese (70.9%), compared with Australian Capital Territory (64.0%) who had the lowest.
Australia is ranked fifth for obesity, with wider waistlines than countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, but slimmer than Hungary, New Zealand, Mexico and the United States, which has an obesity rate of 38.2 per cent.
1/ Okinawan diet – Japan
So much so that Japan has the lowest obesity rates and second longest life expectancy of any developed country. The Okinawan diet is centred around fish, seafood, tofu, and other nutrient-rich ingredients. It's also extremely low in processed foods.
Madagascar had the WORST SCORE in terms of food quality. An average of 79% of people's consumption is derived from nutrient-poor cereals, roots and tubers, compared to a global average of 47%. It also tied with India in the THIRD WORST POSITION for undernourishment levels.
Food prices are substantially higher in Japan, but the traditional Japanese dietary habits, although changing, are also healthier. The Japanese are also far more physically active than Americans, but not because they do more planned physical exercise. They walk more as part of their daily lives.
Recent data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that over an estimated 8.1% of Chinese adults (85 million Chinese adults) had obesity in 2018, which was three times the level in 2004.
What are the fittest states in America? Based on our analysis, the fittest state in America is Colorado, followed by Connecticut, Vermont, Utah, and Montana.
Roughly 25% of Chinese adults are now overweight or obese. (In the United States, about two-thirds of adults share that distinction.) "China is now home to the world's largest diabetic population, with 23 million diagnosed, up 40 percent from 2001," says Laurie Burkitt at The Wall Street Journal.
As for what is driving America's chronic weight problem, there are no definite answers. Scientific studies often reach conflicting conclusions, meaning many theories are out there, but the preponderance of evidence points to the two causes most people already suspect: too much food and too little exercise.
Executive Summary. The rapid economic growth in China has been accompanied by alarming rise in obesity. Recent National survey data suggest that more than half of Chinese adults are now living with overweight and obesity, with obesity rates likely to increase.