Earlier this week the big news in Australia was how the country is now the World’s Fattest Nation:

Australia has become the fattest nation in the world, with more than 9 million adults now rated as obese or overweight, according to an alarming new report.

The most definitive picture of the national obesity crisis to date has found that Australians now outweigh Americans and face a future “fat bomb” that could cause 123,000 premature deaths over the next two decades.

If the crisis is not averted, obesity experts have warned, health costs could top $6 billion and an extra 700,000 people will be admitted to hospital for heart attacks, strokes and blood clots caused by excess weight.

The latest figures show 4 million Australians — or 26% of the adult population — are now obese compared to an estimated 25% of Americans. A further 5 million Australians are considered overweight.

At first glance it appears Aussies may be eating a little too much vegemite. However, I find this claim very dubious because just by walking around Australia it is very easy to see that yes there are plenty of obese people, but Australia still has a ways to go before catching America in the obesity department.

For example when you go to a shopping mall or grocery store in Australia you do not see people so obese that they need motorized carts to get around on like you regularly see in the US. I’m willing to be that if this study was based on per capita percentages the US would come out on top.

My suspicions about these findings are only heightened by the fact that Australia has the world’s second longest lived people:

AUSTRALIANS are now the second-longest-living people on earth with falling death rates for cancer, heart disease, stroke and injury, but the indigenous population continues to die earlier.

The latest comparative study of the nation’s overall health by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) - the government body responsible for compiling health statistics - shows that a baby born in Australia today can expect to live for 81.4 years, with men expected to live for 79 years and women for almost 84. Australians’ life expectancy is bettered only by the Japanese at 82.2 years.

If Australia really is the world’s fattest nation then maybe we all need to put on a few more pounds to live as long as the Aussies?