Report gives Toowoomba residents food for thought
TOOWOOMBA has one of the highest rates of obesity in the state, with 35.8% of people seriously overweight, according to newly-released Heart Foundation data.
The burgeoning city was ranked as having the third-highest prevalence of obesity in Queensland, with the Wide Bay area coming in second, and the Darling Downs-Maranoa coming in first with 38.2% of the population classed as obese.
Toowoomba’s obesity rates are 5.4% above the state average and 7.9% above the national average.
Those figures shocked Toowoomba’s Courtney Steedman, who in January this year decided to knuckle down on her training and exercise.
Eating correctly and exercising regularly under the watchful eyes of Clayton Bielby and Mandee Harbort at Body Wizards Toowoomba has made a world of difference.
In the last nine months, she’s lost 42cm off her body, 13cm off her waist and around 5kg.
“I was a very active kid growing up but I’ve always been a bit bigger; I was never really the skinny type,” she said.
Ms Steedman had been exercising on and off again over the last seven years, but the decision to train with Body Wizards has changed her life for the better.
“I feel healthier, and feel heaps better about myself. I look different, I’ve got more confidence, and I feel like I’m not labelled the big girl any more,” she said.
For those who were unhappy with their weight, Ms Steedman said the best thing to do was to stop thinking about it, and make a change.
“Just get up and do it, because you might surprise yourself,” she said.
She said the new statistics regarding obesity shocked her, but was less surprised by the heart disease statistics.
“A lot of people like take-out these days. They’re busy with their jobs. It just makes everything so much easier.”
Heart Foundation Queensland Health Director, Rachelle Foreman, said the new data was disappointing but not a surprise.
“Lifestyle factors like weight, smoking and your activity levels have a big
impact on your risk of developing heart disease,” said Ms Foreman.
“It is no coincidence that regions where more people are obese and smoke also have higher rates of hospital visits and deaths due to heart disease.”
Queensland has the second highest proportion of obese adults (30 per cent) in the country, after Tasmania (31 percent).
Four Queensland regions: Cairns; Wide Bay; Townsville; and Darling Downs-Maranoa, featured in the highest top 20 regions for smoking prevalence in Australia.
All of these regions have smoking rates around 20 per cent, which is double the rate for Brisbane - West region.
Nearly 85 people per 100,000 die from coronary heart disease in Toowoomba, which sits slightly above the Queensland average of 83.6 deaths per 100,000, and way above the national average of 75.5 deaths per 100,000.
Of the 19 regions across Queensland, Toowoomba came in 11th-worst for heart disease deaths, and ranked 23rd across the nation.
Heart-related hospital admissions were slightly below the Queensland
average, sitting at 59.4 admissions per 10,000 people.
That is still well above the national average of 50.1 per 10,000 people.
The data revealed regional Queensland has much higher rates of mortality and hospitalisation due to heart disease than South East Queensland.
Across Australia, heart disease deaths are 50 per cent higher in disadvantaged, rural and remote areas.
The areas also have much higher rates of smoking and obesity, two of the major lifestyle risk factors for heart disease.