By ANTHONY RADFORD

CENTRAL Victoria is in the grip of an obesity “epidemic”, with more than half of the adult population dangerously overweight.
A new survey has revealed the ugly picture of obesity in central and northern Victoria, which is resulting in hospitals treating chronic weight-related diseases and forcing health organisations to buy bigger and stronger equipment.
The Heart Foundation has teamed up with the state government to produce the Victorian Population Health Survey, a snapshot of our state of health.
The Loddon Mallee region, which
includes most of central Victoria and stretches north, fared poorly in the amount of people overweight or obese.
According to the survey, almost 38 per cent of adults are overweight, using the Body Mass Index calculations.
A further 18 per cent of adults in the region are classed as obese, meaning almost 60 per cent of the region’s adults are putting their lives in danger by being too heavy.
More than one quarter of 25 to 35 year olds in the region are categorised as obese, almost double the Victorian average.
Males fare the worst, with 44.3 per cent overweight and 20.2 per cent obese.
Almost 60 per cent of males aged between 35 and 44 are overweight, with a further 17 per cent obese.
That could be because
according to the study, more than 20 per cent of males aged between 18 and 24 in the
region do not have enough physical activity, against a state average of five per cent.
That is resulting in reports of heart disease in both sexes a lot higher than the state average. More than 10 per cent of men have reported heart disease, the highest figure of any region in Victoria.
The survey also found more than one in five locals smoke.
Jane Gordon of Bendigo Health’s Hospital Admission Risk Program, which runs a chronic disease management program, said the diseases caused by obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease, were in epidemic proportions.
“Very much, it is evident among all streams of the program – diabetes, heart and stroke,” she said.
“I would say diabetes is a global epidemic at the moment.
“Chronic heart failure is rife, as well as chronic heart disease.”
Ms Gordon put the
increases down to one thing – lifestyle.
“People are just not exercising,” she said.
“The factors there are multiple.
“People are working harder and don’t have enough time to get out and have physical activity.”
The HARP program aims at running preventative campaigns to try and limit the amount of visits a patient has to make to hospital, as well as the areas they need to be seen at.
“It is spread out across the whole hospital and whole health service,” she said.
“Prevention goes a long way to reducing those readmissions.”
The treatment of overweight patients has come to the fore in recent months, and Bendigo Health recently
received a state government grant to purchase special equipment for heavy patients.
Bendigo Health Surgical Services nursing director David Rosaia is on a new internal committee aimed at addressing the policies and equipment needs of heavy, or bariatric, patients.
“Bariatric management is a whole new concept throughout the nation,” he said.
“It has become the flavour of the community throughout Australia and there is now a general awareness of bariatrics.”
Bendigo hospital is purchasing more beds, lifting equipment and other equipment that can cope with weights of up to 300 kilograms.