Australians growing fatter, sicker

An assessment of the health of Australians has highlighted an urgent need to prevent chronic disease.

One in two Australians lives with a chronic disease, and one in five people are battling two or more conditions. 

Australia’s Health Tracker revealed increased rates of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, fuelled by dangerously excessive consumption of sugar and salt. 

Almost 30 per cent of young Australians were found to be overweight or obese, with 91.5 percent lacking in physical activity.

Victoria University Australian Health Policy Collaboration director Rosemary Calder said there were grave concerns about the lack of preventative action.

“Less than two per cent of government health spending is dedicated to prevention,” she said.

Bendigo Community Health Services chief executive officer Kim Sykes said the study’s findings were consistent with what the service was seeing. 

The challenge was to respond in a manner appropriate to the region. 

“This report, when it talks about Bendigo, captures two populations, really,” Ms Sykes said.

“Those two populations need different approaches to help them shift their health and wellbeing outcomes.

“A population-based systems approach is going to work for many people in our population... but it will not reach into the causes of health inequity unless we have specific and targeted approaches to support people living in those lower socio-economic areas.”

Long Gully, California Gully, Heathcote, Eaglehawk and Elmore rank among the lowest percentiles of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ socio-economic index for areas. 

BCHS announced last month a new strategic direction targeting the cycle of poverty in the region. 

Ms Sykes said the three-year plan focused on early intervention, involving the $3.2 million Kidzspace to open in Kangaroo Flat in October.