More than half of Queensland adults overweight
More than half of Queensland's adult population is overweight or obese, with men much more likely to be too fat than women, new research shows.
The statistics determined by the Central Queensland University's Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR) come in the lead-up to the state government's Obesity Summit in Brisbane this week.
CSSR director Kerry Mummery said today an estimated 51 per cent of Queensland's adult population were too large, based on a study of more than 1,+200 men and women statewide.
Professor Mummery said 61 per cent of the state's men and 45 per cent of its women were too big because of a widespread "energy imbalance".
"As a population we are consuming too many calories but expending less energy because we have become very sedentary ... we need to supplement that with more active leisure time," he said.
"Both men and women are at unacceptable levels but it may be that women are getting more incidental activity such as housework and child care, but that is very speculative on our part," Prof Mummery said.
"We did a study recently that showed that the more men sat at work the more likely they were to be obese, but that didn't really hold to women."
He also said the likelihood of obesity skyrocketed with age.
Queenslanders aged 55 or over were 2.66 times more likely to be overweight or obese than those who were 18 to 34, the study showed.
"What we found is when you go over 35 it's close to six out of ten being overweight or obese," Prof Mummery said.
"There's that huge jump somewhere in the mid-30s where we starting to lay down that extra fat that we don't need."
The statistics were based on Body Mass Index (BMI) calculations of height and weight proportions, with the international benchmark of a BMI of over 25 used to class participants as overweight or obese.
Prof Mummery said the study proved it was crucial to address ways of reversing the state's increasing girth, in a bid to curb health problems including diabetes and heart disease.
He said he hoped solutions would be thrashed out at the Queensland Obesity Summit, which will attract a range of health professionals, at Parliament House on Wednesday and Thursday.
AAP