Obesity in Australia: rates, causes and where to get help

How common is obesity in Australia?

Close to one Australian adult in three lives with obesity. The latest WHO estimate is 30.6%, or about 6.8 million adults, which ranks Australia 59th of 196 countries and higher than Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The rate is almost the same for both sexes: 31.4% of men and 29.7% of women. For children and teens aged 5 to 19, the WHO estimate is 16.4%, with boys (17.7%) a little ahead of girls (15.1%).

What does the National Health Survey show?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) runs a National Health Survey in which interviewers measure height, weight and waist where people agree; for the rest, values are estimated partly from what people report. Its latest results show that 65.8% of adults are living with overweight or obesity, and 31.7% with obesity alone.

That obesity figure has risen from 27.5% about a decade earlier. Overweight and obesity together are more common in men than women (71.2% against 60.5%), and the share rises with age, from 42.1% of young adults aged 18 to 24 to 75.1% of people aged 65 to 74.

Waist size tells a similar story. More than two in three adults (67.9%) have a waist measurement linked to a higher risk of disease, and the average adult waist is 95.1 cm. You can check your own with our waist calculator.

Among children aged 5 to 17, the ABS found 27.7% living with overweight or obesity and 8.3% with obesity. The share of children in the healthy weight range has fallen from 69.1% to 64.4% over a decade. National survey numbers differ from WHO estimates because of age groups and methods, but they point the same way.

Who is most affected?

Excess weight is not spread evenly across Australia. The ABS found more overweight and obesity in outer regional and remote areas (70.8%) than in major cities (64.3%), and among people living with disability (72.4% against 62.0%).

People born in Australia were more likely to carry excess weight than people born overseas (69.8% against 58.9%).

How has obesity in Australia changed since 1990?

Australia's adult obesity rate has risen from 12.8% in 1990 to 30.6% today, an increase of almost two and a half times. The steepest climb came in the first twenty years after 1990, but the rate has kept edging upward since.

Men and women followed almost the same path. Men went from 12.6% to 31.4% and women from 13.0% to 29.7%. This sets Australia apart from many countries where one sex is clearly more affected.

The change among children is even more striking in relative terms. In 1990, 5.0% of Australian children and teens lived with obesity; today it is 16.4%, more than three times as many. Boys rose from 5.5% to 17.7% and girls from 4.4% to 15.1%.

A monitoring dashboard from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which tracks national prevention goals, shows that obesity rates have not declined. In other words, the country is not yet on course to meet its own targets.

Why is obesity so common in Australia?

The National Obesity Strategy is clear that obesity in Australia comes from the environment people live in, not just from personal choices. For the wider science, see our page on the causes of obesity.

Discretionary foods and drinks

Unhealthy foods and drinks make up about 35% of the daily energy intake of Australian adults and children, according to figures in the national strategy. The strategy names foods such as processed meats, savoury pastries, fried foods, confectionery, cakes, biscuits and soft drinks.

Alcohol alone supplies about 16% of daily energy for people who drink. The strategy notes that unhealthy foods are convenient, often cheaper than healthier options, heavily promoted and available almost everywhere.

Only about 5% of Australians eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. Our page on the food environment explains why it is so hard to eat well when the easiest option is the least healthy one.

Where you live

Fast food outlets are much more concentrated in Australia's most disadvantaged areas and around schools. Large supermarkets with fresh food are harder to reach in regional and remote areas than in major cities.

These patterns help explain why excess weight is more common outside the cities and in poorer communities. Distance, cost and the local food offer all add up.

Cars, screens and sitting

Only about 45% of Australian adults meet the national physical activity guidelines. The strategy points to car-based urban design, more sedentary work and much more screen time as reasons people move less than earlier generations.

Feeling time-poor also changes what people see as normal everyday eating, according to the strategy. Our page on sleep, stress and weight looks at how a busy life affects appetite.

What does obesity mean for health in Australia?

Overweight and obesity are now the single biggest preventable cause of ill health and early death in Australia. The Australian Burden of Disease Study estimates that 8.3% of the country's total disease burden comes from overweight, including obesity.

That puts excess weight ahead of tobacco use (7.6%), dietary risks (4.8%) and high blood pressure (4.4%). The shift happened partly because smoking has fallen so much, which shows how prevention policies can change a country's health over time.

Diabetes Australia has used these findings to call for more investment in preventing type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions, which more than half of Australians now live with. Our overview of the health risks of obesity covers the main conditions involved.

What is Australia doing about obesity?

Australia has a national plan, a front-of-pack food label and Medicare support for people with chronic conditions. These are the main measures.

The National Obesity Strategy

All Australian health ministers have signed up to a ten-year National Obesity Strategy. Its goal is for more people to keep a healthy weight, with two targets: halt the rise and reverse the trend in adult obesity by 2030, and reduce overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 2 to 17 by at least 5% by 2030.

The strategy rests on three ambitions: supportive environments where people live, learn, work and play; people who are empowered and skilled to stay healthy; and access to early intervention and supportive health care. It also commits to tackling weight stigma and discrimination.

The Health Star Rating

Many packaged foods in Australia carry a Health Star Rating, a simple star score that helps shoppers compare the nutritional value of similar products. The system has been voluntary since it began, but food companies fell well short of the target of having it on 70% of products.

Food ministers have therefore agreed to move towards a mandatory scheme. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is consulting on a proposal to make the label required on most packaged foods.

National dietary guidelines

The Australian Dietary Guidelines say the healthiest diets are based on whole foods: vegetables, fruit, wholegrain cereals, nuts, seeds, dairy foods or alternatives, and lean protein such as fish, eggs, chicken, tofu and legumes. Few Australians currently eat this way.

Where can you get help for obesity in Australia?

For most people in Australia, help with weight starts with a general practitioner (GP). Your GP can check your weight, waist, blood pressure and blood sugar and talk about options that suit your health.

If you have a chronic condition, your GP can prepare a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan. This plan replaced the older GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements and can give you access to up to five Medicare-subsidised allied health visits a year, for example with a dietitian or exercise physiologist, when they are clinically needed.

The plan needs to be set up or reviewed at least every 18 months to keep that access. Our doctor visit checklist helps you get the most out of the appointment.

Organisations you can turn to

The Obesity Collective is an Australian group that has developed a free Actions Hub with others. The hub lists practical steps for individuals, workplaces and communities, including ways to reduce weight stigma.

If you have experienced judgement about your weight in a clinic, our page on weight stigma in health care explains what respectful care looks like and how to ask for it.

How does Australia compare with the world and the region?

Australia's adult obesity rate of 30.6% is almost double the world average of 16.2%. For children and teens, 16.4% is also twice the world figure of 8.2%.

Among comparable countries, Australia sits below the United States (41.0%) and New Zealand (34.0%) but above Canada (26.0%) and the United Kingdom (27.4%). Its Pacific island neighbours have much higher rates, among the highest on Earth.

The child rate stands out most. Australian children and teens are more often affected than their peers in Canada or the United Kingdom. See where every country stands on our obesity by country page.

How can Obesity Foundation help people in Australia?

We help people lose weight and get healthier with good food, suitable exercise and walking. All of our support is free and online, which can help if you live far from specialist services.

Talk to your doctor first, ideally your GP, before you change how you eat or how active you are.

• Less discretionary food: our free eating plan helps you swap takeaway and packaged snacks for simple home meals with more vegetables and fruit.
• Walking that fits your day: our walking plan starts with short walks and builds up gradually, in the suburbs or in the bush.
• Kind to your joints: try our low impact cardio workouts, which you can do at home in hot weather too.
• Support from people who understand: book a free video meeting (in English) or join our club.
• Track your progress: our calculators include BMI, waist and calorie tools.

Making a start

With takeaway and snacks so easy to find, a plan helps. Try cooking one or two extra dinners a week at home and taking leftovers for lunch. Keep water in the fridge and in the car, so a soft drink is no longer the default on hot days.

Build movement into the trips you already make: park further away, get off the bus a stop early or walk to the local shops. If you live with a chronic condition, ask your GP whether a care plan could cover sessions with a dietitian or exercise physiologist to support these changes.

To understand obesity as a chronic condition shaped by biology and environment, read what is obesity.