New report suggests obesity gap between city, country widening

Obesity rates range between 16 per cent in inner Sydney and 38 per cent in regional South Australia, according to new figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

File image Source: AAP

The gap in obesity rates between regional and metropolitan areas is widening.

A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released Thursday has detailed the continued expansion of the country’s obesity epidemic.

It shows 28 per cent of Australians were obese in 2014-2015 - more than one in four - up slightly on 2011-2012 figures. The ratio in 1995 was fewer than one in five.

The proportion of Australian adults who are obese in regional areas is now higher than one in three. In contrast, metropolitan obesity rates have fallen slightly in the three years since the previous study.

Dr Kathryn Backholer from Deakin University’s Global Obesity Centre said reducing obesity requires recognition of the factors driving these inequalities in nutrition and activity, and implementing policies that work for all Australians.

“This looks like both engaging more regional and remote communities, and developing policies that act with an intensity proportionate to need,” she said.

“A good example is using the money from a sugary drinks tax to support transport and storage of fresh food to regional and remote areas.”

The report notes there are "a number of factors that influence whether someone is overweight or obese", such as age, gender and socioeconomic status.

The region with the highest rate of obesity was Country South Australia, where 38 per cent of residents were obese. In Central and Eastern Sydney, the rate was just 16 per cent.

In November, the leader of the regional-focused National Party, Barnaby Joyce, advised Australians who wanted to lose weight to “eat less”, following calls from the Grattan Institute to introduce a tax on sugary drinks.

Last year Mr Joyce’s Nationals colleague and Rural Health Minister Fiona Nash established a partnership of health groups and food bodies to tackle obesity.

"Governments can't force-feed healthy food to people,” she said at the time.

"We can however educate them to make their own healthy choices and take responsibility for what they eat."

Earlier this year, research from Deakin University showed fast food restaurants in Victoria were more likely to be found in regional areas than cities. It also found these outlets were more likely to be located near secondary schools than primary schools, and in areas of low socioeconomic status compared with high.

The Grattan Institute estimates obesity costs Australian taxpayers more than $5.3 billion per year.