Almost two-thirds the population of the Eurobodalla Shire is classed as overweight or obese according to new data released last week.
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In Moruya, Bateman's Bay and Narooma, 65.4 per cent of the population is overweight or obese. Young people are not immune to the epidemic, with 21.7 per cent of two-to-17 year-olds also in this weight class.
Mitchell institute at Victoria University released the date before World Obesity Day, which was last Friday.
The same data reported 67.5 per cent of people in Eurobodalla Shire did little to do no exercise in the week before the statistics were collected.
Professor Rosemary Calder from the Mitchell Institute believes action is needed to focus prevention strategies in disadvantaged communities. She said wealthier suburbs in metropolitan areas had a lower obesity rate because they were well serviced by public transport, bike paths and healthier food.
"[These places] are relatively close to where people work, which enables people to be physically active in their commute to work rather than rely on the car," she said.
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"They have a greater density of shops selling fresh fruit and veg, greater competition promoting lower prices for healthy foods and fewer fast food outlets."
The other LGAs on the South Coast have similar numbers to Eurobodalla. The Shoalhaven had the highest rate of obesity and overweight people at 68.7 per cent. Bega Valley had the next highest rate of obesity and overweight people at 63.1 and Kiama had the smallest rate at 58.4 per cent of people categorised as overweight or obese.
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Professor Calder said local governments needed to do more.
"Local governments are critical to local planning and the creation of health and active spaces for their residents. However, they are often hampered by lack of funding and regulatory power," she said.
The data shows the national obesity rate has risen 27 per cent over the past 10 years, and two thirds of Australians are overweight or obese.
The data by area is from 2014-2015, national average overweight and obesity is from 2017-2018. Sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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