And now for the best headline of the week, courtesy of The Australian: STATE OF MAN: FAT AND DEPRESSED. Ouch. I see the the stereotypical image of Australian men starting to crumble. In the 80s we had Mel Gibson in his heyday. In the 90s we got Russell Crowe. And now, this??Yes, according to a new study, the "disease burden" in Australia is behind the decline of the Australian man. The study found that half of Aussie men aged between thirty-five and eighty years of age have officially tipped the scales into that dreaded category called Overweight. A further thirty percent are even worse off - in the Obese category. That leaves just a minority, twenty percent, of a normal weight. Yikes, that is bad!
The culprit, as is so often the case here in the US, is the unhealthy lifestyle led by so many. Lack of exercise and poor eating habits lead to weight gain and further inactivity. Not to mention diabetes. Sixteen percent of the Australian men in this study have Type 2 diabetes. Other big problems are depression, anxiety, and asthma. All evidence of a trend that researcher Gary Wittert characterizes as "alarming" and links to social causes like lack of social standing, low earning potential and relationship dissatisfaction.
Mel, you're having problems, that's true. But take heart! Looks like you have plenty of company...or would if you would only return to your homeland. (Just a suggestion...)
