PORT Fairy has been chosen as the venue for a forum to tackle childhood obesity.
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Doctor for the Australian cricket team Peter Brukner will address the forum, which will be held at the Port Fairy Community Services Centre on July 26.
Dr Brukner is a member of SugarByHalf, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to limit the amount of sugar people add to their diet.
Dr Brukner said obesity is a massive issue and the campaign needs to be driven from local community leadership.
“There are efforts to tackle the issue at government level but we believe it has to be a ground-up campaign,” he said.
“The key is the involvement of communities and the key to communities is leadership.”
Dr Brukner said he is impressed with steps already taken by leaders in the region to take on the issue.
“Everyone else is sitting around talking about the problem but people in the Great South Coast are doing something about it,” he said.
“Obesity has become the norm and its association with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes is a massive problem.
“I believe the answer is not drugs and surgery, it’s lifestyle issues with nutrition and regular exercise.
“If we can get people eating better and exercising more it would have a massive impact on the health of Australians.
“It’s not going to be easy but we need to look at it like the tobacco campaign.”
The latest figures from the Primary Health Network show 53 per cent of Moyne Shire residents are overweight.
Regional leaders can email janette.lowe@wdhs.net if they are interested in attending the forum.