Gravitating South: the Spread of Obesity and Inactivity

by Tagtiv8 Team

'More than half of adults worldwide will be overweight or obese by 2050 – report'

A headline in the Guardian certainly caught our attention this week. You can read the article here. The words of Andrew Gregory and Kat Lay certainly stirred memories of an earlier blog post from 2015, written during a tour ‘Down Under', involving a series of meetings with various educators in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Auckland. The spaces between these places may not have featured on any business agenda, but they did provide us with memories and inspiration in abundance.

During our meetings, the conversations invariably turned to the subject of obesity and the fact that Australia has the fastest growing rates of obesity in the world. The results of the global study into obesity rates, published in the medical journal, The Lancet, show "almost a quarter of the country's children and 63 per cent of the adult population is overweight. Australia's obesity levels are now on par with the United States, but slightly less than New Zealand.” For further details, click here.

Inactivity and Obesity

During our meetings there was also detailed conversations about the issue of inactivity and the links with obesity. This need to emphasise the difference between the issues of obesity and inactivity is backed up in the UK with the BBC News report, Inactivity 'kills more than obesity, This was also reflected in various conversations at the Youth Sport Trust’s Annual Conference, which linked to the recent article, Child obesity rates 'levelling off' among under-10s.

The Positives

What struck us was that Australia seems to be something of a paradox. Yes, there are the statistics mentioned above, but the attitude to sport in its widest sense can not be bettered. As the number of people participating in swimming in the UK falls, the legacies of 2 Olympics in Australia live on. Whether it be a vast multitude of water sports, running, cycling, roller blading, beach volley-ball, tennis or rugby in both its codes (all of which were clearly evident on our travels) sport is certainly encouraged and celebrated. There may well have been some larger people on view, but the overall sense was one of positivity towards being active.

Messaging on the Issues

The Australians are renowned for their sense of humour and direct approach to life; this was evident in our meetings and subsequently by various recommended videos. Please take time to watch:

Thanks once more to the following folk for meeting with us, entertaining us and in certain cases hosting us:

Postscript

Editing the original post from ten years ago, it is so sad to see the demise of Twitter and weekly chats such as #aussieED and #INZpirED, both uniquely passionate and inspirational. Luckily, many educators such as Ritu Sehji have found new homes on more honest and ethical sites. Ten years on, we still remember her sharing knowledge of nutrition - it certainly helped us consider better ways with which to engage learners in making healthier choices.