Weighty problem

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Weighty problem

Pountney

10nov05

AUSTRALIA is a world heavyweight of weight.

An international study has ranked Australia fourth on the league

table of obesity.

More than one in five Australian adults are obese, with only the US,

Mexico and Britain having a higher obesity level.

And a separate study of almost 10,000 Australian workers revealed

yesterday that obese workers take more than four million days off

work a year through injury and illness.

That Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report found obese

employees were 17 per cent more likely to have been absent from work

at least one day in the two weeks before they were interviewed.

Obese workers tended to have more days off than their colleagues --

four days compared with three days.

And obese employees were 28 per cent more likely to have seen a

doctor in the past two weeks.

Rates of absenteeism for personal illness or injury were highest

among younger obese women.

" The analysis indicates that, in general, obese workers are more

likely to be absent from work due to personal illness or injury than

non-obese workers and for a longer time when they are, " said AIHW

spokeswoman Ann Peut.

Ms Peut, head of the AIHW Ageing and Aged Care Unit, said obese

people were also less likely to be employed.

Obese workers were twice as likely to say their health was poor or

fair compared with colleagues.

Just over 40 per cent of obese people said their health was

excellent or very good, compared with more than 62.4 per cent of non-

obese people.

" The recent increase in the prevalence of obesity among adults in

Australia may be having an impact on productivity in terms of

absenteeism from work for personal illness or injury, " the OECD

report stated.

However, the international study Health at a glance -- OECD

indicators 2005 also reveals Australians gained an average 9.4 years

in life expectancy between 1960 and 2003, to 83 years for women and

78 years for men.

The average life expectancy in OECD countries was 77.8 years, up

from 68.5 in 1960.