Obese Australians Grapple with Type 2 Diabetes

Posted on August 29, 2008 in Latest News

Obesity is becoming a world-wide phenomena and is of much concern to health practitioners. It has become a major cause for Type 2 Diabetes and needs to be controlled. Australia is no exception to this rule, although Americans are also facing similar health probem.

Obese Australians need to grapple with Type 2 Diabetes

Obese Australians are proving costly to the national exchequer to the extent of $58 billion, as they are now numbering around 3.71 million. Due to increase in obesity, the number of Type 2 patients has gone up by 137% since 2005. These facts were highlighted in the report “ Growing economic costs of obesity in 2008.”
The total cost incurred due to increased obesity is $ 8.3 billion in financial costs as well as $49.9 billion loss occurring due to disability and pre-mature death. Dr. Gary Deed, National President of Diabetes, Australia, feels that the obesity epidemic is having serious impact on Type 2 Diabetes by increasing its occurrence rate. He further states that both Type 2 Diabetes and obesity can be prevented and therefore much efforts need to be made to prevent the escalation of the disease as well as obesity.

Dr. Deed is of the view that one needs to focus on the social and economic conditions that one was living under and how this was affecting one’s health. Policy planning on a long- term basis was essential on such issues as food labeling, urban designing, lifestyle education and encouraging Australians to make healthy choices.

Obesity is a serious health problem and needs to be tackled at grassroot level. It could cause Type 2 Diabetes. Lifestyles and food habits need to be changed so that people get adequate exercise and take the right food. Australians are not the only people facing this problem. People of other nationalities are also suffering from obesity.

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