Health trumps looks in our dieting aims

AUSTRALIANS are more interested in improving their health than their looks when it comes to dieting, new research from national science agency CSIRO has revealed.

Two out of three people are motivated to lose weight because of health concerns and a loss in kilos leads to improvements in chronic health conditions like type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

A survey of more than 3000 CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet online members found that close to half of people who lost weight reported health improvements often corresponding with a reduction in prescription medicines.

Survey respondents who reported taking regular medication for one or more chronic conditions saved an average of approximately $270 per year in medication costs.

Respondents with three or more conditions reported yearly savings of $460 per condition.

“Almost nine out of 10 survey respondents who were largely overweight or obese reported a pre-existing health condition at the commencement of the program, while 43 per cent had been diagnosed with three or more chronic health conditions,” CSIRO research scientist and report coauthor Dr Gilly Hendrie said.

The most commonly reported health issues among the respondents were high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis, mental illness, asthma, chronic body pain and pre-diabetes.

“After following the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet program, more than half of those with pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol reported an improvement in their health conditions,” she said.