A quarter of Australian teenagers overweight
A new study has found nearly one-quarter of Australian teenagers are overweight or at risk of being so.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics survey is the first national look at Australians' eating habits.
Past studies have looked at aspects of Australians' eating habits but this one looks at what we eat every day of the week in the city and country.
It is seen as important base-line data from which change will be measured over time.
It has found 45 per cent of Australian men and 29 per cent of women are said to be overweight and another 18 per cent of both are obese.
Deakin University dietician Ingrid Rutishauser says over-nutrition and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle is causing the gradually worsening problem.
"It is difficult but we just have to try harder to be active and it's a personal decision," she said.
"Part of the problem is that we're under pressure over time and you tend to take the fastest route and that perhaps isn't the route that actually allows you to exercise."
