A new national report has found Australians living in regional communities are disproportionately affected by the country’s obesity epidemic, highlighting a growing health and economic gap between the city and country.
The report, A Preventable Crisis, released by the McKell Institute and the Menzies Research Centre, shows two in three Australian adults are now overweight or obese, while one in four children aged 5 to 17 falls into the same category.
Regional communities are particularly exposed to the impacts of rising obesity rates due to differences in healthcare access, food availability and socioeconomic conditions.
“Obesity disproportionately affects socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and rural and regional populations, reinforcing health inequities,” the report says.
The research found children from lower-income households are nearly twice as likely to experience obesity as those in higher-income households, reflecting the broader link between health outcomes and economic disadvantage.
McKell Institute Chief Executive Officer Edward Cavanough said: “Australians living outside the major cities are often facing higher health risks while having fewer services available to help manage those risks. Addressing obesity is not just about individual behaviour - it requires policy responses that recognise the different challenges facing regional communities.”
The report estimates obesity already costs the Australian economy more than $39 billion a year, with more than 60 per cent of that burden driven by lost productivity, including time off work and reduced workforce participation.
Menzies Research Centre Executive Director David Hughes said: “When obesity leads to poorer health and reduced workforce participation, regional communities can feel those effects very quickly. This is not just a health issue - it also affects productivity, economic opportunity and long-term prosperity.”
Despite the growing scale of the problem, Australia currently spends around 2 per cent of its health budget on prevention, significantly below the OECD average of 3–4 per cent.
The economic cost of obesity is projected to reach $87.7 billion annually by 2032 and $228 billion by 2060, with more than 60 per cent of the costs linked to lost productivity, including absenteeism, reduced workplace performance and premature death.
Its contribution to diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and at least 13 cancers makes obesity and overweight conditions responsible for 8.3 per cent of Australia’s total disease burden and the largest single driver of preventable health loss, the report says.
The report recommends a coordinated national approach combining prevention, improved treatment pathways and stronger policy leadership. It also calls for measures including mandatory Health Star Ratings on packaged foods, incentives for workplace health programs and increased investment in preventive health initiatives.
The report, commissioned by Novo Nordisk, marks the first time the progressive McKell Institute and conservative Menzies Research Centre have worked together on a major research project. The report is available here.
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Ben Mitchell: 0419 850 212