Obesity in Australia

Running head: OBESITY IN AUSTRALIA
OBESITY IN AUSTRALIA
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OBESITY IN AUSTRALIA
1
Introduction:
The effect of overweight and obesity has been leading health concern in Australia which
facilitates the growth of cardiovascular disease, diabetes. In this paper, the chosen public health
concern is obesity. Black, Hughes and Jones (2018), reported that amongst Australian adults
one in four were obese in 2009 , indicated that one-third of the total Australian population being
overweight. Hence, this paper will provide a report addressing public health issues, role of
stakeholders, barriers of systematic thinking and suggestions in the following paragraphs.
Define public health issues:
Over the last decade, a steady shift has been observed in the Australian population
towards high body mass index, which is facilitated by the change in weight of the body. In
2014- 2015, more than one out of four adults in Australia were obese compared to 2009,
indicating a rapid increase in obesity in Australia (Veitch et al., 2015). More than two million
Australian men were obese, accounting for 28% of all male of the Australian population over 18
years. While 28% of the male in Australia was overweight, approximately 48% of the male in
the Australian population were overweight. Considering the obesity rate of Aboriginals, 66% of
the indigenous Australian are obese, indicating the rate of obesity is high in Torres Strait Island
(Hardy et al., 2017). The common risk factors of obesity include Genetics, medication, physical
inactivity, frequency of eating, medications and smoking, psychological factors (Hayes et al.,
2017). Avsar, Ham, and Tannous (2017) suggested that excessive body facilitate high
economic cost which includes loss of productivity and care costs of Australian, approximately
60 billion dollars per year. Hence, in order to reduce the global burden of disease and high
prevalence of obesity, systems thinking approach should be taken involving different
stakeholders.

OBESITY IN AUSTRALIA
2 Figure: Obesity
Source: (Hardy et al., 2017)
Role of stakeholders in addressing the issue:
In public health issues, stakeholders are usually a crucial part of the sector whose
involvement and actions determine the successful address of certain issues. In the current
context, the commercial drivers of the epidemic are so influential that obesity can be defined as
the robust sign of success such as consumers are more inclined to buy more unhealthy foods,
energy-saving cars and less inclined towards the physical activity (Jancey et al., 2019). In this
case, policies, law, and regulations are often required to change for improving social and
environmental changes which will have e sustainable impact on reducing obesity. There is a
range of potential stakeholders who play a crucial role in addressing the issues associated with