Australia obesity rates: Why push for sugar tax is growing stronger

How many Aussie deaths do you think are linked to excess weight every year? The answer might shock you.

Experts are pushing for a sugar tax.

Almost two-thirds of Australia’s population will be overweight by 2030 if current trends continue, as experts slam the Federal Government’s “failure” to tackle obesity.

New Australian Institute of Health and Welfare modelling has revealed the drastic toll Aussie’s growing waistlines have on their health and lifespan - with thousands more expected to die from conditions including several cardiovascular conditions and 17 types of cancer.

The nation’s current trajectory has an overweight BMI on track to overtake tobacco as the leading cause of disease in 2030, attributable to 8.9 per cent of the nation’s disease burden and more than 27,000 deaths.

The last national survey, conducted in 2018, found 60 per cent of Australians above 5-years-old were overweight.

The new modelling released on Friday found this will jump to 64 per cent by 2030 if numbers keep rising at the same rate.

But the AIHW also tested minor lifestyle changes and found thousands of lives could be saved by small variations in weight and activity levels.

More than 13,400 lives could be spared if people with an obese BMI reduced it to a healthy level.

An even smaller change — losing just one BMI unit (an average of 3kg) — among the at-risk population would save 2,300.

Changes across the entire population, such as exercising for an extra 15 minutes five times a week, would prevent 1600 deaths.

But Food for Health Alliance executive manager Jane Martin said the government would need to act if they want to see change.

Food for Health Alliance’s Jane Martin says our environment is not supportive of healthy diets. Picture: istock

The alliance — which consists of leading health organisations Cancer Council Victoria, VicHealth and Deakin’s Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition — has called on the Federal Government to implement a sugar tax and stronger restrictions on unhealthy food advertisements.

Ms Martin said successful examples included the United Kingdom, where a levy had reduced sugary drinks sales.

“To protect our children’s health now and as they grow, we must prevent the processed food industry from saturating their lives with unhealthy food marketing,” she said.

“Continuing to point to people and tell them to change — we’ve done that and it hasn’t worked well.

“Our environment is just not supportive of healthy diets.

“We have failed. 25 per cent of two to four-year-olds are above a healthy weight.”

She said the government needed to act on the National Obesity Strategy, which was released last year.

“We hear every day about the strain on our hospital system,” she said.

“Prevention policies that will support people to have healthier diets will have an impact on our health and will support and protect our hospital system.”

Health and Aged Care Assistant Minister Ged Kearney said the Albanese Government was “committed” to implementing the National Obesity Strategy.

“This includes a range of interventions to improve access to and the consumption of a healthy diet, including undertaking a feasibility study to address unhealthy food and drink marketing to children,” she said.

“We also know that there is no silver bullet when it comes to preventing obesity, which is why our Government are committed to a variety of policies and actions to support people to make healthier choices.”

Originally published as Australia obesity rates: Why push for sugar tax is growing stronger