Excess weight increases your likelihood of developing many major chronic diseases (such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers), disability and early death.

It is now one of the main contributing factors causing preventable deaths.

In Western NSW the number of adults who are overweight or obese is 59.1 per cent which is about 6 per cent higher than the NSW state average of 53.3 per cent.

The good news for some is that since 2013 the number of adults who are overweight or obese in Western NSW has reduced from 64.8 per cent.

However rates of overweight and obesity in Western NSW are about 20 per cent higher in males at 68.1 per cent (females 49.8 per cent) and in NSW about 15 per cent higher in Aboriginal people (68.3 per cent compared to 52.9 per cent in non-Aboriginal people).

It is recognised that choices people make about health are more strongly influenced by social, cultural and environmental factors that are often outside the individual’s control.

We live in an obesogenic environment, that is, an environment which encourages excess energy intake and reduced energy expenditure.

For many Australians it is only a small amount of extra energy intake each day leading to their weight gradually creeping up over time.

Factors driving this imbalance are complex, making simple solutions elusive.

Things such as where you grow up, the health of your parents, your level of education, the types of jobs you have, and your access to health services all impact on your weight and health. Children from poorer families tend to eat more junk food and are more likely to be overweight.

To successfully tackle the obesity epidemic and reduce the disadvantage for people living in rural areas governments need policies and communities need to be empowered to ensure equal opportunity for all.

Why are so many people overweight or obese? Is it the sugar, bad fats or processed foods? Is it lack of exercise? There is no one single cause of our expanding waistlines, so there is no simple solution. Common issues are cheap processed foods which are readily available and high in energy and low in other nutrients, large portions, liquid calories (especially soft drinks and alcohol) and more sedentary behavior (sedentary jobs and leisure activities, more screen time, always travelling by car).

The overall effect on our diet is that we eat more than we need – too much sugar, salt, fat especially ‘bad’ fats, and too much processed foods which are low in fibre – all of which impacts on our health. 

What can you do? We need to prevent the ongoing trend of weight gain. This means moving more and eating less! There is no magic pill to do it for us! Every little bit we eat counts – added sugars, extra snacks, larger portions, liquid calories. Instead we need to eat more fruit and veg, more wholegrain foods, less processed foods and drink mainly water. We need to move more and have less screen time. The Australian Dietary Guidelines uses the best scientific evidence to outline how we should eat and includes information on serve sizes (www.eatforhealth.gov.au).

Do we need a sugar tax? The issue is more complex than just reducing sugar intake (and there are mixed views on if a tax would achieve that).

There are many other social, cultural and environmental issues we need to address to help people to make the healthiest lifestyle choices.

Debate about a tax is good, but regardless people are responsible for what they choose to eat and drink – a tax doesn’t change that.

How much sugar is okay? The amount of added sugar you need depends on how much energy you use – the more energy you use the more sugar you can have (higher energy is needed for active adults and growing teenagers and lower energy for sedentary adults especially sedentary women and young children). We should get less than 10 per cent of our energy from added sugars – so for an average person this means about 11-14 teaspoons of sugar for males (based on 9,000-11,000 kilojoules per day) or 9-10 teaspoons of sugar for females (7,000-8,000 kJ/day). So that 375ml can of soft drink with nearly 10 tablespoons of added sugar is your whole daily allowance of added sugar!

Having better health services and improving access to them is another part of the answer. Rural Australia needs more healthcare professionals and Charles Sturt University has courses covering 20 different healthcare professions with a strong rural and regional health focus. Our graduates are the most employable and are more likely to work in rural and regional areas.

So stop the weight creep, role model healthy eating to children and realise there is not one simple solution to our obesity crisis.

Ms Ruth Crawford is a lecturer in nutrition and dietetics in the School of Exercise Science, Sport and Health at Charles Sturt University.