It's A Fact. We're Fat.

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It's a fact. Australians are getting fatter.

The latest research from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found nearly 70 per cent of people living in the Hunter New England and Central Coast health regions are classified as being overweight or obese.

The figure is above the national average of 63 per cent. Put another way, 1 in 3 adults are overweight and not obese, and 1 in 4 adults are obese.

Nutrition and dietetics professor Clare Collins from the University of Newcastle said there is a difference between being obese and being overweight based on your Body Mass Index (BMI), but either way it's not good.

"Essentially the higher your BMI, the more likely it is that you're carrying excess body fat particularly around your waist and around your body organs and its that type of excess body fat that's related to higher risks of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers."

The statistics also look at overweight and obesity in children and show 1 in 4 Australian children and adolescents aged between 2 - 17 years old were overweight or obese.

Professor Clare Collins said the statistics are alarming and it should be a wake up call for more to be done to stop the statistics going up even more.

"These statistics are alarming, they're continuing to go up; it tells you that we're not doing enough to change the food environment so that basically its better for your health and your hip pocket to eat more healthily,"

"It needs to be a call to action that we change the food environment, that we work together across all sectors so the health and wellbeing of people here in the Hunter and the central coast is the thing that drives us to making it better," said Claire.

The Newcastle Study Aiming to Prove Fruit and Vegetables are Better than You Think

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Researchers at The University of Newcastle are hoping their study turns out to be more fruitful than they expect.

The joint university and Hunter Medical Research Institute study is examining how a diet rich in fruit-and-veg can contribute to weight loss, and how it relates to protecting the body from exercise-induced inflammation.

Researcher and PhD student Erin Clarke says as a dietician she advises everyone to eat more of the good stuff, but now there could be even more benefits.

Researcher Erin Clarke Image supplied.

"The main aim of this study is to see how increasing fruit and vegetables affects weight and exercise-induced inflammation. We're providing more evidence to why people should be doing it, so many people want to lose weight and this could be an effective way to do it," said Erin.

Participants in the study will receive a week's worth of fruit-and-veg for free which includes bananas, oranges, frozen berries, fresh and tinned tomatoes, pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, lettuce, zucchini, cucumber and frozen peas and corn.

In addition, you'll have to visit Callaghan campus for two exercise sessions involving a VO2 Max test of aerobic capacity on a treadmill plus other tests on subsequent visits.

It's a common thought buying fresh food can be more expensive so the study also wants to prove that really it isn't and it's quite easy to slip it into your weekly budget.

"So we wanted to give them assistance in showing them how they can increase it and its not going to put a big hole in their budget. I've got some tips that I'll give them for increasing their intake on a budget. Everyone knows they should be eating fruit and veg, but they don't know how to incorporate it so much into their diet," said Erin.

The study is looking for males and females aged 18-45 years with a Body Mass Index of 25-35 (overweight or obese) and no health issues which could affect doing high-intensity exercise.

For details contact Erin on 4985 4316 or Erin.Clarke@uon.edu.au

The Hunter is an obesity 'hot spot'

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Hunter has been labelled as an obesity 'hot spot' above the state's average, as the obesity crisis increases across Australia

Kidney Health Australia released a one off report yesterday revealing the link between obesity and what is known as the silent killer: chronic kidney disease.

The Hunter New England and Central Coast region was shown to have an obesity rate of 68 per cent and a 12 per cent rate of chronic kidney disease. Both statistics are well above the state average of 63 per cent for obesity, and 10 per cent for kidney disease.

Medical Advisor and Board Member for Kidney Health Australia Jonathon Craig, says no matter your age now, the older you get the greater chance you have of becoming a statistic of obesity and kidney disease.

"As people get older, rates of obesity increase which is broadly consistent with what's happening in chronic kidney disease where the rates increase over time and are particularly prevalent in those aged over 60 or more."

According to the report, overweight people are 1.5 times more likely to develop kidney disease and for obese people the rate drastically doubles.

Kidney Health Australia CEO Mikaela Stafrace says "in obese people the kidneys have to work harder, filtering more blood than normal," and this increase in the kidney's function "can damage the kidneys - effectively shutting them down - and cause kidney disease".