For further information please refer to the full study "Impact of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity on life expectancy of Australian adults" published in the International Journal of Obesity
Authors: Lung, T 1,2 Jan, S 1,2 Tan, EJ 2 Killedar, A 2 Hayes, A 2
Affiliations:
- The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2042, Australia.
- The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
The growing prevalence of obesity and its association with a wide range of debilitating, chronic and life-threatening conditions represent one of the most significant public health issues faced in Australia. The 2017-18 National Health Survey found over two-thirds of Australians aged 18 years and over were overweight or obese. In the past 20 years, the prevalence of adults with obesity has increased from 19% to 31%.
Without effective action to address the current trend of increasing adult overweight and obesity, the young adult population of today will bear a disproportionate and growing burden of obesity related mortality.
Dr Tom Lung who conducted this study, with researchers from the University of Sydney, writes that he used a dynamic microsimulation model in a nationally representative sample of Australian adults aged 20-69 to project remaining life expectancy and years of life lost due to obesity by age, sex and baseline weight status groups. Modelling results suggests that such investment should have a focus on identifying coherent and sustained obesity prevention strategies targeting young adults which are the most cost-effective.
