AUSTRALIA is expected to spend more than $37 billion on takeaway food this year, making us the 11th biggest-spending fast food nation on earth.
The figure - the equivalent of 343 Whopper burgers for every man, woman and child in the country - is an increase of $4 billion in just three years.
And our love affair with lard-laden tucker shows no sign of abating. Traffic to Australian fast food joints increased between three and seven per cent in 2010 - more than the US or Canada.
The data from global research company Euromonitor coincides with an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) snapshot of obesity in Australia released today that shows one in four Australians aged over 18 were obese in 2007/2008.
The numbers echo World Health Organisation figures that put us as the 39th fattest nation on earth and come as no surprise to Jane Martin, a senior policy adviser with the Obesity Policy Coalition.
Australia now has more than 1250 Subways, 845 Domino's, 780 McDonald's and 300 Hungry Jacks and 600 KFCs here and in New Zealand.
All are contributing to our weighty problem through a combination of the growing number of outlets, increased marketing budgets and affordability for cash-strapped families, Ms Martin said.
Fast food profit
"The price of fresh food is going up faster than processed food," she said. "Meal deals where you can feed four people for $20 make feeding a family relatively cheap, and people are very price sensitive.
"We know Subway and McDonalds are increasing their number of outlets, making more money and spending more on advertising and marketing. When times were tough, their profits actually went up."
By 2025, 83 per cent of Australian men and 75 per cent of women aged 20 years and over will be obese or overweight on current trends, according to a 2008 Victorian Government report.
Every state is full of fatties - but people who live outside the capitals are fatter than their city cousins, the ABS snapshot reveals.
National crisis
In Sydney, 57 per cent of people are overweight or obese, compared to 67 per cent in other areas.
In Victoria, 58 per cent of people are overweight or obese (68 per cent in the regions); in Queensland it’s 55.7 per cent (Brisbane) and 65 per cent (regions); Tasmania, 59 per cent (Hobart) and 67 per cent (regions); Northern Territory, 58 per cent (Darwin) and 64 per cent (regions).
The biggest difference is in Western Australia, where 59 per cent of people are overweight or obese in Perth, but 72 per cent in the regions. In South Australia, 61.5 per cent are fat, regardless of where they live.
"We are consuming too many kilojoules, and many of the extra kilojoules come from energy dense (high fat/sugar) foods," Ms Martin said.
"In 2007, nearly 17,000 Australian fast food outlets served approximately 1.64 billion fast food or take away meals. People are increasingly eating out of the home, and a large proportion (44 per cent) of meals served out of the home are fast food."
Fresh food call
But Jennie Brand-Miller, Professor of Human Nutrition at the Boden Institute for Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders at the University of Sydney, said we should give Maccas and KFC a break.
"Fast food is a response, not a cause," she said. "Mcdonald’s don’t care if they sell water or soft drink, as long as they make a profit."
"Email is what’s fattening. Australians work long hours. We're tired a lot of the time - sleep deprivation has been shown to reduce metabolic rates by 25 per cent, so instead of using 1000 calories to keep the engine turning over, we only use 750.
"And stress increases our hunger because the same hormone we produce when we’re stressed - cortisol - also makes us hungry.”
Intergenerational obesity - where overweight parents "train" the foetus to be an overweight child - and a tendency to focus education programs on adolescents and over 50s were also major contributors, she said.
Deepening crisis
Ms Martin said there was nothing to suggest the rate of obesity was going to slow.
"The especially worrying trend is that those who are obese are more obese than they were," she said.
But expecting individuals to shift the kilos alone - or the hothouse, tough love approach of shows like The Biggest Loser - would have little impact, she said.
Instead, fast food outlets should be compelled to supply information about kilojoule, fat and sugar levels and introduce "traffic light labelling" that shows if levels are high (red), medium (orange), or green (low).
And consumers should have that information before they part with their cash.
"If it’s on the packaging, they’ve already bought it," Ms Martin said.
Since 1995, the rate of obesity has risen from 19 per cent to 24 per cent, with men gaining weight faster than women.
There were just as many people overweight (37 per cent) as there were people of normal weight (37 per cent) in 2007/08.
This is a slight shift from 1995, when there were more people of normal weight (41 per cent) than there were people overweight.
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