The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reported a 63% of the Australian population were either overweight or obese within 2011 to 2012. The data is part of the report on the National Healthcare Agreement released by the Reform Council of the COAG

In the past four years, a 2 % increase has been observed with 28% of the population obese while 35% are overweight. The council has issued a warning to governments to implement strong initiatives to address obesity.

The Reform Council also notes that nothing was being done and government leaders lacked progress in pursuing the goals of the National Healthcare Agreement. The agreement states that a 5% of Australians should achieve a healthy body weight by 2018.

John Brumby, the chairman of the Reform Council is scheduled to release the findings of the report today at the Australian Medical Association. Brumby is concerned about the high number of obese and overweight Australians. He calls the attention of governments to provide an urgent solution to the problem. If the issue continues to be ignored, it would have spill-over effects to the healthcare system.

Obesity refers to an increase in the amount of fat in the body. Body fat can be assessed by calculating the body-mass index (BMI). Another type of assessment is waist circumference and skin-fold thickness. A higher than average BMI means a person is overweight or obese. Obesity is associated with increased risk to certain types of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and hypertension. Long-term solutions to obesity are proper diet and regular exercise.

According to the same report, hospital wait times for elective surgery have hardly improved. The number of people waiting 24 hours before they see a general physician increased to 12%.

On a positive note, the number of adult smokers fell to 16.5%. It is a big improvement from 19.1% last 2008. Brumby also says wealthier parts of Australia have a declining population of smokers. Only 1 out of 10 people smoke in rich neighborhoods. In rural areas, 1 in 3 adults continue to smoke. In Tasmania and the Northern Territory, smoking rates are still above average.