Your dinner plate could be making you fat according to UK Obesity Expert

Is your dinner plate making you fat? Probably...

In the last 20 years, the average size of a dinner plate has grown from 23 centimetres to 28 centimetres. At the same time, so too have the waistlines of many Australians.

All evidence suggests Australians are eating too much food. And, we’re getting fatter and unhealthier as a nation according the Institute of Health and Welfare’s report card on the Health of Australians released this week.

Rates of overweight and obesity, which are known risk factors for many diseases, continue to rise.

3 in 5 adults (61%) and 1 in 4 children (25%) were either overweight or obese, putting Australia’s obesity level squarely among the ‘worst’ third of OECD countries.

Type 2 diabetes (of which obesity is the leading risk factor) is projected to become the leading cause of disease burden by 2023.

So what’s the answer? Could it be as simple as eating less food? Could a solution to the national obesity crisis be in our crockery cupboard?

UK Obesity Expert and Adviser to the UK Government, Dr Ian Campbell has been touring Australia this week meeting with the government, bureaucrats and peak organisations in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra to discuss Australia’s rising weight epidemic and what can be done to arrest the rate of obesity in Australia. He will be in Melbourne today.

Portion control is obviously a key issue, says Campbell. “We’ve been working hard to get the UK to think about eating less and exercising a little more each day,” says Campbell.

“It helps people who are overweight to understand the amount of food they should be eating and manage easily and simple the amount of food they eat each day,” he says.

“Many of my patients are shocked when they see how much they should be eating versus how much they have been eating.”

Dr Campbell and organisations he created like the National Obesity Forum have been working with the government in the UK and the food industry for a decade on arresting the rise of obesity in England.

“We are starting to see results,” he says.

“But Australia is probably five years behind the UK when it comes to tackling obesity as a society and the longer you wait as a nation to do something, the harder the problem will become.”

The Diet Plate is now available for the first time in Australia. Over 300,000 Plates have been sold in the UK to date.

AboutDr Ian Campbell

Dr Ian Campbell is an internationally recognised expert in obesity and weight loss management. He is a full time GP and prominent campaigner for the prevention and treatment of obesity.

Dr Ian Campbell is an advisor on nutrition and obesity to numerous UK and international organisations, including the government.

He was the founder and first president of the UK’s National Obesity Forum – an independent group of medical practitioners who have worked with organisations including the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity, the UK Department of Health, National Institute of Clinical Excellence, Royal College of Pediatricians, Association for the Study of Obesity, the Obesity Awareness and Solutions Trust, and a number of pharmaceutical companies.

Dr Campbell was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2009 for his services to healthcare. Dr Campbell has held positions as a specialist at the Overweight Clinic at the University Hospital, Nottingham. He is the Honorary Medical Director of the leading charity Weight Concern, which works to address both the physical and psychological health needs of overweight people, and is a tireless campaigner for reforms to the UK National Health Service.