Bleak outlook for overweight Australians

International research into the relationship between obesity and heart failure has uncovered a bleak outlook for already overweight Australians. The research shows that obesity is set to be one of the biggest risks for heart disease over the next decade.

UniSA Professor Simon Stewart and colleagues from the University of Glasgow have published a unique report in one of the world’s leading cardiology journals, the European Heart Journal, detailing the 20-year consequences of obesity in more than 15,000 middle-aged men and women living in the West of Scotland (Murphy NF, MacIntyre K, Stewart S, et al. Long-term cardiovascular consequences of obesity: 20-year follow-up of more than 15,000 middle-aged men and women (the Renfrew-Paisley Study). European Heart Journal – published 23rd September 2005).

Overall, obesity was independently associated with a 60 per cent increased risk of developing coronary heart disease, a two-fold increased risk of developing heart failure, and a 40 per cent increased risk of developing stroke. The study showed that the likely impact of increasing obesity in the UK per 100 obese middle-aged individuals over the next 20 years was estimated to be 18 male and 10 female cardiovascular-related hospital admissions

“Estimates from the Heart Foundation show that one in five (about 20 per cent) adult Australians are obese and a further two in five (40 per cent) are overweight,” Professor Stewart.

“With those statistics in mind we can expect that the approximate one million obese middle-aged Australians will contribute to an excess of 141,000 cardiovascular-related hospital admissions (relative to normal weight individuals) in the next 20 years.”

Professor Stewart said that this clearly preventable component of cardiovascular disease must remain a high public health priority in Australia, if Australia is to reduce a significant future burden on its health care system.

“Now is the perfect time for all Australians to assess their weight and if necessary, increase their activity levels and improve the quality of their diets in order to lose weight – a bit like giving yourself a spring clean,” he said.

“I think we all need to take our personal health and well being more seriously but also we need to understand that our already stressed health care system will be more strained by this potential heart disease time-bomb.”

Professor Simon Stewart is the National Heart Foundation of Australia Chair of Cardiovascular Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia. He was funded by a Ralph Reader Overseas Fellowship to undertake this research at the University of Glasgow during the period 1999 to 2002.

Table 1. Independent effect of obesity on the risk of a new cardiovascular event during 20-year follow-up of middle-aged men and women.