DUBBO residents are too fat and should consider becoming vegans to tackle an obesity epidemic in their region, according to animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
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"Australia's ranked one of the fattest nations in the developed world, and Dubbo's among the places labelled the fattest in Australia - not something to be proud of," PETA campaign coordinator Claire Fryer said.
PETA referred to Roy Morgan research from 2013 suggesting up to seven-in-ten residents in Dubbo, Orange, Bourke and Broken Hill were overweight or obese.
As a result, the organisation had singled out Dubbo as a target market for its free vegan/vegetarian starter kit containing recipes and information about "meat's devastating effects on animals and the environment".
It had also written to Dubbo Mayor Mathew Dickerson urging him to get on board the campaign.
PETA said overweight kids and teens "fed a diet of burgers, chicken nuggets and other food laden with saturated fat and cholesterol" were at risk of childhood obesity that could lead to a lifetime of psychological trauma, but going vegan could reduce their risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
While she acknowledged converting die-hard meat-eaters in a city that had an abattoir as a major employer was an ambitious task, Ms Fryer said there was a "growing recognition" vegan meals were the ideal option when it came to curbing obesity, reducing the slaughter of animals and helping the environment.
"The United Nations has said we need to move towards a plant-based diet to combat climate change, and the World Health Organisation recently classified processed meat as carcinogenic, so the arguments for a plant-based diet are really building," she said.
"Even in areas of Australia where much animal agriculture occurs, there can be a big disconnect in the general population's understanding of what happens to animals if they are not seeing those animals dragged onto the killing floors or about where their meat comes from or what it goes through."
Cr Dickerson said PETA was welcome to market its starter kits in Dubbo but Council would play no role in it.
"Financially, we don't have the funds to contribute to another organisation's marketing, and policy-wise we don't have policies for converting people to vegans or vegetarians.
"I did suggest (to PETA) that health falls under the state government's responsibility, so if we supported it financially effectively that would be cost-shifting."
As to claims Dubbo had an obesity problem, Cr Dickerson said Australia, not necessarily just Dubbo, needed to tackle obesity.
"In Dubbo there are certainly the facilities for people to exercise, we have an international-standard exercise track, bike tracks and regular park runs that, with the latter, attracted 255 people last weekend," he said.
"At the end of the day though, you can have all the facilities in the world but it's up to the individual to choose to get out and use them."
Meanwhile, Dubbo City Council had in recent years tried to make food served at functions more healthy, Cr Dickerson said, including substituting white bread for wholemeal and providing more fruit platters and fewer cakes.
"I'm a chocoholic but if I had the choice of eating mango and strawberries instead I'd do that all day - we can make lifestyle choices without converting to veganism, and I would have thought the solution was moving more, eating less and eating healthier," he said.
