Australian country women 'more likely to be obese'

Woman in regional and remote areas of Australia are still not getting access to doctors and other health services that women in the city enjoy.


To make matters worse a new report out this morning reveals women in the bush are suffering higher rates of obesity.


One of the report's authors, Professor Julie Byles from the University of Newcastle, says it's not all bad news and efforts to improve access to doctors is working.


Sure, if they are working on farms and throwing bales of hay around and chasing sheep and things like that they'll be getting plenty of physical activity but not everybody will be doing that in those areas and they are not necessarily going to gyms, they are not necessarily catching public transport and walking from bus stops to wherever they need to go.


So it is possible that people in rural areas are getting less physical activity. The other issue I think we need to pay attention to in rural areas is access to fresh food and so looking at people's diets in those areas as well.




Think it is very important that when we think about policies, we don't just think about policies that affect people living in cities. So access to fresh fruit and vegetables I think is something that does need to be considered.


Up until those changes were brought in about 2004, women in those areas were paying more and more and more for their doctors services but that's been turned around but what we have seen is that there are some pockets that have been missed and those are particularly the inner regional areas where there seems to be a disadvantage to that area now and so I think that is something that needs to be looked at now is what is happening in those areas.


We've been working with Government since 1996 when this study was started and they do listen to the findings, they do respond to the findings and some of the changes that have been brought in have been in response to some of the things that we have been providing information with, provided them earlier. Obviously we don't make policy but we provide information that can be used for policy.


"Environments can be what we call obesogenic in that they encourage people to become overweight and obese, as well as individual behaviour," Prof Byles said.


"Some cities can be like that. But in rural areas physical activity may be an issue too.


"We have an idea of people working on farms and being physically active but that wouldn't be the case for everyone.


"They may drive to the shops and park right outside, whereas people in the city may drive to a shopping mall where they will have to walk from the car park and then around the mall."


The study, a collaboration between the University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle, has examined the health of more than 40,000 young, middle-aged and older women since 1996.


In the latest report card released on Friday obesity rates were shown to have risen across all age groups.


When the study began in 1996, less than 10 per cent of women were obese.


However, nearly 20 per cent of city women, one quarter of regional women and one third of women in remote areas are now obese.


Being obese increases the chances of developing diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, with the rate of both those conditions higher in country areas.


Older country women were also more likely to die from smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease.


When it came to accessing GPs, the report found changes to encourage more bulk billing in country areas had helped increase the number of visits by women.


However, on average women in regional areas saw their GPs less than their city cousins and those in remote areas.


Country women were the most dissatisfied with access to GPs and hospital services and least likely to see specialists such as cardiologists.


As for oral health, city slickers were one and a half times more likely to see a dentist than those in the country.


Nearly a third of all the women reported using complementary medicine such as aromatherapy, homeopathy, reflexology and osteopathy.


Middle-aged country women were the biggest users, with about a third consulting a complementary medicine therapist compared with 28 per cent of city women.


But while country women may be less healthy than their city sisters, they feel safer, closer to their neighbours and more satisfied with Life.