Canberra, Jan 25: Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but if you're fat, you're fat: that's the blunt message obese Australians must hear, a government report said on Friday.
More than half of Australian adults are either overweight or obese, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report stated, but thousands are deluding themselves that they are not fat.
Almost 45 percent of people classed as overweight and obese see themselves as having an acceptable weight, the new analysis of a 2004-05 National Health Survey found, up from 37 percent in 1995 and 41 percent in 2001.
Denying a weight problem risks serious health problems flaring up, the report stated.
"Excess body weight contributes to the risk of a range of health problems including diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and some cancers," the ABS said.
About 7.4 million Australian adults are either overweight or obese, with men more likely to be overweight or obese than women, the report said.
bureau Report
