Latest News

Back to Latest News back

 

Obesity Summit focuses on five-year plan for early intervention and weight management in Western Australia

Obesity Summit focuses on five-year plan for early intervention and weight management in Western Australia
October 18, 2018

Western Australians who struggle with weight management and obesity are set to benefit as a result of Summit that set out ways to reduce the burden of preventable disease and tackling the growing obesity epidemic.

Staged yesterday at Perth’s Duxton Hotel, the Obesity Collaborative Summit brought together consumers and stakeholders from the health and community sector to help develop a five-year action plan to support people with early intervention and weight management.

The Summit, a collaborative partnership between the Western Australian Department of Health, WA Primary Health Alliance and the Health Consumers Council, was the first of its kind in Western Australia.

It also set out to identify what improvements are needed to provide a clear, streamlined journey through the health system for people who want advice and support to manage their weight.

Obesity related inpatient costs to the Western Australia public health system place a huge burden on the service and taxpayers. In 2011 the costs totalled $241 million, and, at current rates, obesity related inpatient costs are predicted to increase 102.6% to $488 million by 2021.

The Health and Wellbeing of Adults in Western Australia 2017 report found approximately one-third of adults (32.2%) were obese and approximately one in 13 people in Western Australia (7.4%) have diabetes.

At the recent Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Health Council meeting in Adelaide, the Commonwealth, States and Territories agreed to a proposal put forward by Western Australian Health Minister Roger Cook for a national approach to curb the growing obesity epidemic. A similar proposal was put forward by the Commonwealth at the meeting and the proposals were jointly considered.

The Western Australian Government's proposal for a National Obesity Strategy targets the growing issue of preventable disease, disability and death due to being overweight and obese.

Yesterday's summit in Perth follows the Preventive Health Summit in March this year, and the Sustainable Health Review (SHR) Interim Report, which identified obesity prevention as a priority. The SHR Final Report is due before the end of the year.

Commenting on the Summit and its objectives, Minister Roger Cook stated “chronic disease caused by excess weight ruins lives; it places a burden on our public health system and ultimately on WA taxpayers. In Western Australia alone, two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, as are nearly a quarter of children aged five to 15 years.

"Clearly, something needs to be done, and in the past year the (Western Australian) Government has been a strong supporter of preventive health initiatives.

"The (Western Australian) Government is concerned that Australia lacks a comprehensive, ongoing strategy to fight obesity, so it's pleasing the recent COAG Health Council meeting agreed with WA and adopted a proposal to develop a National Obesity Strategy.

"A national strategy will set an over-arching policy agenda for obesity prevention and early intervention according to best practice, and ensure a consistent, multi-strategic national approach is adopted.”

Related Articles

11th October 2018 - World Obesity Day looks to end weight stigma

24th September 2018 - Weight Watchers ends use of ‘weight’ in branding

3rd May 2018 - Exploring Successful Weight Loss Programs in Fitness Centres and Clubs

1st March 2018 - New Report says supermarkets must do more in fight against obesity

9th February 2017 - Children with weight issues do little exercise, spend lots of time on screens

11th November 2016 - Australian Sports Commission says sport and education key to tackling obesity

5th April 2016 - Report says Australia is losing the war on obesity and alcohol

22nd November 2015 - Australia needs a National Physical Activity Action Plan

1st April 2014 - Changing the way Australians approach weight loss

20th February 2014 - An inconvenient truth for overweight Australians

22nd November 2013 - Children less fit than their parents

11th January 2013 - VenuesWest combats obesity concerns

2nd September 2011 - Global governments must ‘get tough on obesity’

3rd February 2010 - Australian women have highest rising obesity rate

28th January 2010 - Goodlife Launches Revive Weight Control Program


Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

 

supplier directory

The Complete Guide to Leisure Industry Products & Services.

See the directory see all

Elite Pool Covers

Since 1989 Elite Pool Covers have designed and manufactured an extensive range of high quality affordable manual,semi-automatic and fully-automatic pool cover systems for the harsh Australian…

read more

Aquatics / Environment / Technology / Venues

 
 

revolutioniseSPORT

revolutioniseSPORT is the emerging market leader in online club management in Australia. Whether it is memberships, registrations, events, online sales or governance tools - revolutioniseSPORT is the…

read more

Recreation / Sport / Technology

 
 

Jonas Leisure

Jonas Software operates over 110 independently managed software brands around the world, providing them with the strategic guidance and financial security required to be leaders in their respective…

read more

Aquatics / Billing / Fitness / Recreation / Sport

 
 

TicketSearch Pty Ltd

TicketSearch is focused on providing businesses, organisations, and venues with affordable, efficient, and powerful self-managed ticketing solutions. The organisation has offices in Australia, New…

read more

Attractions / Entertainment / Technology / Ticketing / Venues

 
 

SportEng

ABOUT SPORTENG specialises in the Planning, Design and Construction inspection of Fields of Play for all sports. Blending engineering with the specialist knowledge gained from working closely with…

read more

Consultants / Recreation / Sport / Surfaces / Venues

 
 

Links Modular Solutions

Links Modular Solutions was a leading provider of high-quality, innovative software solutions for aquatic and recreation facilities. Links Modular Solutions is now part of Xplor Technologies.

read more

Access / Billing / Finance / Fitness / Technology

 
 

Active World

Since 2019, Active World's development team has been delivering a comprehensive single solution that caters to the diverse requirements of successfully operated and managed leisure centres. The…

read more

Aquatics / Billing / Fitness / Recreation / Technology

 
 

SimplySwim

    SimplySwim is a school management solution that helps swimming school owners and managers optimize operations by automating functions such as managing class schedules, billing and…

read more

Aquatics / Education / Recreation / Safety / Technology

 
 
 
 

get listed with our suppliers directory

Get your business noticed in our targeted directory. Viewed by 10,000 industry professionals per week!

list your business