Queensland is FAT - We know that

image sourceed from http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/fast-food/

I would like to first preface this posting with the statement "I am no Adonis, but I do look after myself."

According to this article in the Courier/Sunday Mail on Sunday Queensland is now the fattest state in what is the second fattest nation if not the fattest nation in the first world. I have to say this is no great surprise to me, or for that matter most people I know. I have watched my own extended family slowly get fatter and fatter.

Like most articles in the Courier (trash) Mail they have chosen to blame someone else without putting part of the blame back on the person gaining weight themselves. Don't get me wrong Fast Food outlets have a lot to answer for but not all the blame can be levelled at them alot can be levelled at ourselves. The basic reason, energy in has to equal energy out otherwise we gain weight. The reason why this is happening is what most people would call an inconvenient truth, THE CAR. The fact is the car is used for so many trips for it's perceived convenience that people have got fat and lazy.

Case Study - My Unit Block.
I live around 500m from my local supermarket. It is a flat easy walk that takes around 7 minutes to walk at a comfortable pace. Our grocery shopping takes around 10mins to do and we are set off home with our clothe shopping bags completely full. This will normally last us for 3 to 4 days before we do the next shop. The only difference between our shop and someone that might drive a car is we do not buy soft drink. It only takes 30minutes from the time we leave home to the time we get back. It is a simple task that is not hard to do or time consuming but people still drive to the shops. The sad fact is they do this mostly out of laziness but also out of perception. Perception that it saves them so much time when infact it doesn't because there are multiple little tasks with using a car eg getting in and out of the carpark. The fact is over short distances (less than 1km) the car save very little if non compared to walking when tasks need to be done.

Lack of physical activity is the main reason why adults are getting fatter and we need to admit it. Being physically active to transport ourselves makes far more sense then driving to a gym to use a treadmill. Australia has to admit they use cars far to much.