TRANSITION TOhealthofthenation.com.au ADULTHOOD CAN BE HEAVY GOING

2024-01-25 -

Maintaining a healthy body weight during the transition into adulthood is instrumental in preventing heart disease and many cancers, while exercising will help stave off depression.

Young adults are the group gaining weight the fastest in Australia – and leaving the family home to start a life of work or study is often to blame.

But there are simple hacks that can be employed – such as using smaller dinner plates to control portion sizes and losing weight in intervals rather than through crash dieting – to keep waistlines in check.

“The period as you transition from adolescence, particularly to young adulthood is the highest trajectory of weight gain that most people experience across their lifetime,” University of Sydney dietitian Dr Stephanie Partridge said. “After high school, they do tend to drop out of a lot of the community sports that they were participating in.”

THE HARSH REALITY

By 2038, it is estimated 80 per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds will be overweight or obese.

“Certainly it’s a rising health concern in this age group,” Deakin University nutrition expert Dr Katherine Livingstone said.

Weight gain during this period could shave years off a youngster’s life expectancy with men who are obese at age 25 projected to live 8.3 fewer years, and women to live 6.1 fewer years. A Swedish study found every extra kilogram a man gains per year between the ages of 17 and 29 was associated with a 13 per cent increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

Dr Partridge said the reason for weight gain is this group often has little money or time, making energy-dense fast foods appealing. Sugary drinks and alcohol also contribute, along with inactivity. If these poor eating habits lead to diabetes by age 30, sufferers will live 14 fewer years than those without the condition.