Big fat gold medal

The Australian public has overtaken our biggest rivals, the USA, as the fattest nation on Earth. It is truly horrifying that we are now a nation beset with inactivity, poor skills and an obesity epidemic which is a greater threat to our nation than any of the challenges faced over the past 250 years.

The healthcare industry will reel under weight-related illness and disease. From ambulance services to intensive care and acute care, from neonatal to aged care, the costs will rise faster than age-related changes in society.

Studies of school photographs taken in 2007-08 indicate little variation over the previous decade. Lifestyles and a lack of skills that allow the development of a fit, active adult are keys to the obesity epidemic. With 26% of the Australian population now overweight, it is time to have a look at ourselves. Can we love ourselves naked? Perhaps the time for oversized shirts covering our bulging middles demands an urgent fashion overhaul.

The recent Complete Health Check For The Over-45s is an interesting data collection exercise in the surgeries of doctors treating the G&L community. Most of the gay population attending East Sydney Doctors in Burton St, Darlinghurst, display health and fitness levels of their peers in the suburbs 10 to 12 years younger. The higher proportional amount of tax paid by the healthier gay population contributes to public education, public health, child welfare -“ services not overused by gays and lesbians.

So perhaps yes, we should attempt to stem the tide. Whilst our environment and lifestyle may threaten our existence on the planet, our diets and sedentary lives are killing us. We sit, not stand; we drive, not walk or ride; we eat rather than play or participate; we drink rather than dance.

Being overweight is just another symptom of metabolic dysfunction -“ a sign that you’re not as healthy as you could be. Most people can get away with it for a few years.

But the time comes when we can no longer sustain such a lifestyle -“ and if you are at or reaching that point, why not think about joining one of the many gay and lesbian sporting organisations thriving in Sydney.