# Australia now officially World's Fattest Nation. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614 "2008-06-20T18:48:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/1 "2008-06-20T18:48:24Z")
From [here](http://www.japantoday.com/category/world/view/australia-worlds-fattest-nation-us-2nd) 26% of Australians are obese, compared to 25% for America. Now, I know it’s not in good taste to poke fun of weight problems, but since when have I ever had good taste? This excerpt from the article cracks me up: > [@the article](#): > > "If we ran a fat Olympics, we’d be gold medal winners as the fattest people on earth at the moment,"Institute preventative cardiology head Professor Simon Stewart told the Age newspaper. And umm… pay no heed to that mention of studies suggesting 34% of America is obese. Yup… ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/2 "2008-06-21T03:22:16Z")
And yet when I was in the Melbourne CBD a couple of days ago I couldn’t believe the number of people out running, cycling, walking etc. I guess it was because they finally had a sunny day to get out and about ;). The unfortunate fact is that we are becoming a sedantry society (western societies in general, not just Australia.) Exercise is now done as a special activity by people with the motivation to do it. Fewer people have a lifestyle that naturally involves exercise. Perhaps the increase in fuel prices will encourage more people to use walking or cycling as a mode of transport. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/3 "2008-06-21T03:32:39Z")
_from the US…_ Woohoo! We’re number two! 😃 Urgh, I feel I should go to a gym. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/4 "2008-06-21T04:16:05Z")
They obviously saw me out for a walk. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/5 "2008-06-21T04:28:10Z")
We’ve got a long way to go to beat Tonga. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/6 "2008-06-21T04:39:36Z")
Who knew Vegemite was so fattening? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/7 "2008-06-21T06:39:27Z")
I question such statistics. When I walk down the street, I would certainly not say 25% of people I see are in any way obese. You’d be lucky if it was 10%. I think they’ve adjusted what constitutes obese to be what used to be known as “slightly overweight”. How can you defeat it when they keep moving the goalposts? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/8 "2008-06-21T07:03:04Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] I question such statistics. When I walk down the street, I would certainly not say 25% of people I see are in any way obese. You’d be lucky if it was 10%. I think they’ve adjusted what constitutes obese to be what used to be known as “slightly overweight”. How can you defeat it when they keep moving the goalposts? [/QUOTE] And let’s not forget that 26% of Australia is about 5,500,000 people, whereas 25% of the US is something in the region of 75,000,000 people. Therefore, no matter how you look at it, there are still going to be more obese people in the US than Australia. To put it another way: according to these statistics, there are over three times as many obese people in the US than the entire population of Australia, obese or otherwise. And I also question the validity of the “One in four Aussies is a Lardass!” claim. I can count the number of “obese” people I’d see in a typical day on one hand with fingers left over, and I work in retail… ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/9 "2008-06-21T07:47:50Z")
How on Earth can so many people be obese in Australia? Don’t you have to be in pretty good shape to run away from all the wild animals trying to kill you over there? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/10 "2008-06-21T07:47:56Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] When I walk down the street, I would certainly not say 25% of people I see are in any way obese. You’d be lucky if it was 10%. [/QUOTE] But if you’re walking down the street, there’s a good chance that the people you see are also walking down the street. Thus, they are _walking_. People who walk places are less likely to be obese than those who drive, and you can’t easily tell if someone is obese from a quick glance as they zoom past. ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/11 "2008-06-21T13:15:25Z")
In the study’s [abstract](http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/haa/obesity/subs/sub008.pdf) : > [@](#): > > The report focuses on middle-aged Australians (45-64 years) given they have a higher combined prevalence of overweight/obesity when compared to other age groups and, therefore, are at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and CVD. As a result they are most at risk of experiencing highly preventable cardiovascular-related hospitalisations and deaths (many of them premature deaths) relating to their excess weight over the next 20 years. Sorry guys. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/12 "2008-06-21T13:27:16Z")
[QUOTE=BlackKnight] But if you’re walking down the street, there’s a good chance that the people you see are also walking down the street. Thus, they are _walking_. People who walk places are less likely to be obese than those who drive, and you can’t easily tell if someone is obese from a quick glance as they zoom past. [/QUOTE] Walking is just used as an example. I was counting all my observations, both within vehicles and without. And I do look into vehicles often enough. There are many obese people I encounter from day to day, but 25% of them? One in four? Ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![chicken\_wire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@chicken\_wire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicken_wire)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/13 "2008-06-21T14:27:44Z")
Well, we’re lucky I’m here bucking the trend, I reckon. 😉 We need to be able to playfully rib the Americans for being fat bastards or it’s no fun. I demand a recount! ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/14 "2008-06-21T14:30:57Z")
Also, if they’re using BMI, they may have artificially skewed their results. While BMI is an okay guage for some sedentary people (meaning it’s not always accurate even for sedentaries), it doesn’t take into account bone density and muscle mass. For example, when I was a little heavier than my thinnest weight (at the time of the measurement, I was a size 6 at 5’9), I was considered very overweight because I weighed about 165. Given that at the time I was training for a marathon, I took that number with a grain of salt. Even if these numbers turn out to be relatively accurate based on the BMI, if they did an individual-by-individual analysis (which is pretty hard to do), I’m guessing their results would differ drastically. And, given that I didn’t see an indication of how they did the study, for all we know, they grabbed a scale and a calculator and went to the nearest city block and stopped and weighed people on the spot. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/15 "2008-06-21T15:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=Garula] How on Earth can so many people be obese in Australia? Don’t you have to be in pretty good shape to run away from all the wild animals trying to kill you over there? [/QUOTE] Yeah, but you have to balance that out with the slow moving stealth you need to avoid drawing the attention of the drop bears. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/16 "2008-06-21T15:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=Garula] How on Earth can so many people be obese in Australia? Don’t you have to be in pretty good shape to run away from all the wild animals trying to kill you over there? [/QUOTE] See, the really active people are out there getting killed off by the various fangs, stingers, barbs, tentacles and jaws of death. That leaves only the stay-at-home types to reproduce. And they only have to be nimble enough to swat a deadly spider now and then. It’s evolution, really. Survival of the fattest. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australia-now-officially-worlds-fattest-nation/453614/17 "2008-06-21T21:28:02Z")
Well, for one thing, as quoted above they studied middle aged people because they were the the group most likely to be fat. And then they were surprised to find that a high percentage were fat. Science strikes again. 😃