Returning to a healthy weight is a bridge too far for overweight Aussie men

Once Aussie men are fat, they rarely return to a healthy weight. And the older we get, the fatter we become.

Sustaining a healthy weight appears to be a significant challenge for most Australian men, 71 per cent of whom are overweight or obese. Picture: istock

Once Australian men are fat, they rarely return to a healthy weight, a government study shows.

And the older we get, the fatter we get, the Australian Institute of Family Studies published on Thursday reveals.

Twenty per cent of 10-14 year old boys are overweight or obese, but by the time men reach 25-34, it is 60 per cent. More than 70 per cent of 35-57 year olds are too heavy.

The AIFS longitudinal study of more than 16,000 Australian males, Ten to Men, found about nine in 10 men aged 35-57 who were overweight or obese in 2013 remained so two years later.

Sustaining a healthy weight appears to be a significant challenge for most Australian men, 71 per cent of whom are overweight or obese.

This is the third-highest proportion among OECD countries, behind only the US and Chile.

“The older men get, the harder it seems for them to maintain a healthy weight or return to a healthy weight,” report co-­author and AIFS research fellow Brendan Quinn said.

“The survey shows that among those who were at a healthy weight, 91 per cent of 10-14 year-olds were still at a healthy weight two years later, compared to 82 per cent of 18-24-year-olds and 77 per cent of 45-57-year-olds.

The reasons for being overweight and obese are no mystery.

The older we get, the fatter we get, the new report has found.

“Among adult Australian men (18 years and older), low physical activity, frequent medication use, poor diet, smoking, drinking and lower overall life satisfaction were all associated with greater risk of being overweight or obese,” the report says.

The consequences are significant. “Those who were obese or overweight had almost triple the likelihood of having symptoms of cardiovascular conditions or diabetes in the past 12 months; and were 1.4 times more likely to have symptoms of a respiratory condition and/or arthritis,” the report says.

Socio-economic factors play a part in which Australian men are more likely to be obese or overweight. “Married men and those in a de facto relationship had 1.4 times higher likelihood of being overweight or obese,” the report found. “(And) men with a university degree and those who were employed were less likely to be overweight or obese.”

The report found Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys and young men were almost twice as likely to be overweight or obese as the wider population, while men from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds had a significantly lower likelihood of being overweight or obese.