New figures have painted a bleak health profile for the Hunter – with more than half of the population being classified as overweight or obese.
Medicare Local worked with the Hunter Valley Research Foundation, conducting 2400 interviews in 12 local government regions, finding 58.4% of residents are overweight or obese, just shy of the state rate of 61.2%.
Singleton and Cessnock have the highest rate of obesity in the region, beating the state average with 67% of residents carrying too much weight.
The region also suffers from a higher rate of Type 2 diabetes; 7% of adults were diagnosed with the disease, greater than the national rate of 5.7%
The report also discovered that 91% of people don’t eat enough vegetables and two thirds of the population don’t meet the recommended amount of exercise.
On a positive note the smoking rate was 13.4% which is lower than the state average of 14.6%.
We’ll have more in NBN News tonight at 6.
