I was interviewed on Dr Ross Walker’s program, on radio station 2UE in Sydney, a few weeks ago and they asked me a few interesting questions that I thought I would share with you.

The first question I was asked was about the current statistics on overweight and obesity in Australia. And, I suspect, you will find the statistics quite astounding. So here they are, for your information:

The percentage of overweight females in Australia is 55% and the percentage of overweight males is a staggering 67%. It is also worth making a note of the fact that this year Australia has had the unique privilege of overtaking the USA as the fattest country in the world. There goes the image of the athletic, bronzed, Australian male.

Another question was: Why do we have such a problem with the obesity in our country?

I believe that there is not one simple answer to that question. There are many reasons why obesity has become such a problem, not only in Australia, but all across the Western World. The three main reasons are:

1. We have become a very inactive society. We walk less, we have too many labour saving devices and we exercise less. In the last 100 years the daily energy output by the average office worker has decreased by about 60%.
2. Our energy intake, that is the number of calories we consume in the food we eat, has not dropped at all; and in many cases it has probably increased. This has caused an energy imbalance that has created a tendency towards weight gain and obesity.
3. We eat the wrong foods. We eat too much fast-food and junk food. Too many of the foods we eat are high in fat and energy density. The food is too highly processed and the quality of the ingredients in our food has diminished.

Another question related to why most weight loss programs are initially effective but after following most people for up to three years, they are either the same weight or are even heavier.

The short answer to this is that most diets go for the quick fix and focus on only one minor aspect of a very complex problem. Many people are given a very simple diet to follow for a short period of time. They either cut portion size or they provide some meal substitutes, such as protein powders, to eat instead of a meal.

These techniques result in short term weight loss but they are always doomed to failure in the long term. No one has taken the time to learn what they were doing wrong in the first place or to determine their underlying metabolic profile and any metabolic problems. The end result is that when the majority of people stop following the written instructions or stop drinking the meal substitutes, they go back to their old eating habits.