McDonald's announced on Wednesday that it will hire more than 3,000 young people throughout Australia until the yearend. The 3,000 will be added to the 90,000 people on the fast food chain's payroll, mostly performing crew tasks such as cooking burgers, taking orders, serving the meals and cleaning the stores.

Catriona Noble, chief executive officer of McDonald's Australia, said a crew job is often a young Aussie's first job which is considered a privilege as well as great responsibility.

The 3,000 to be hired would fill newly created positions for baristas, managers, front-of-store operators and kitchen workers in new outlets to be opened. Ms Nobel pointed out that while the fast food chain is an equal opportunity employer, the bulk of its employees are young people.

"We've got young restaurant managers in their 20s managing over 100 people, managing scheduled of peaks and troughs across a week - they have to order in fresh produce in the right amounts," Courier Mail quoted Ms Noble.

While McDonald's announcement was welcomed by the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry for boosting employment amid reports that Australia's unemployment rate slightly rose to 5.2 per cent in June, the opening of new McDonald's outlets may again be blamed for soaring obesity rates in the country.

A new government report released also on Wednesday said over 60 per cent of adult Australians and 25 per cent of children aged 2 to 16 are overweight or obese. The report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare blamed the soaring weight problem to falling fruit and vegetable consumption as well as the fatty foods served by fast food chains.

The report said the average Aussie family spent more weekly on alcohol than meat, fruit and vegetables. Since over 90 per cent of adults do not eat the recommended five servings of vegetables and 50 per cent do not eat the recommended fruit serving, the fresh produce end up thrown into the garbage bin.

The institute disclosed that of the $5 billion worth of food disposed yearly by Australian households, $1.1 billion was fruit and veggies.

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