‘Absolutely tiny’ Federal obesity funding challenged

UPDATED*

The Federal Government’s funding for obesity prevention is under fire, with research showing just 0.1% of the health budget was spent on the area in nearly a decade.
 
A new research paper in Public Health & Practice from the Sax Institute shows the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) spent $778 million on obesity prevention funding from 2013–22 despite growing weight gains in the population.
 
Allocations for obesity prevention research from the three largest Federally funded research bodies – the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, and the Medical Research Future Fund – were also low, comprising 1.1%, 0.2% and 0.8% of their total funding, respectively.
 
The research found there was no funding in 2015 and 2020.
 
Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Obesity Dr Terri-Lynne South, who is also a dietitian, has been working with obese patients for more than 20 years and said the allocation showed a huge disparity.
 
‘It’s absolutely tiny and compare that to the percentage of Australian adults that are classified as overweight or obese,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘There is a huge discrepancy there and we are getting worse, so we need to be putting in measures to turn the tide of this.’
 
Lead researcher Michelle Tran, a health economist and research fellow at Deakin University, said the low levels of government spending on obesity prevention are worrying considering the potential benefits of addressing factors that contribute to obesity.
 
‘Australia has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world, costing us billions of dollars each year,’ she said.
 
‘Funding cost-effective prevention strategies would be an excellent investment not only in the health of Australians, but it could also save billions in healthcare and other costs of preventable obesity-related diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.’
 
Dr South said GPs are now underfunded at the frontline of addressing both preventive healthcare for obesity and tertiary care to reduce complications of those already overweight.
 
‘It is so difficult for GPs as we are time-poor,’ she said.
 
‘How do we do all that preventive consultation that we are expected to do as GPs?
 
‘We need to have a way where we are not being limited by time and therefore financial constraints to be able to do a better job.’
 
According to Dr South, increased Federal funding could be spent on initiatives like subsidised medications, as seen with other conditions that can be a result of obesity.
 
‘There are multiple medications we can use as adjuvants to a basis of lifestyle intervention. They should never be used on their own, but it is something to augment those healthy habit gains,’ she said.
 
‘But there is not a single [listing] on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that would help patients afford those medications.
 
‘Compare that to other chronic and complex medical conditions such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes.
 
‘I think this is showing some discrimination and stigma for the health condition called obesity.’
 
Dr South added funding could also go to an increase in sessions covered by the Government with other health professionals, such as physiotherapists.
 
‘People need such ongoing support that the five [allied health] visits … per year is not enough,’ she said.

A DoHAC spokesperson said the Government’s 10-year National Obesity Strategy 2022–2032 was developed to work together with the National Preventive Health Strategy (NHPS) 2021–2030 to address these issues. 

‘The Government recognises that no single action will be enough to tackle obesity, instead, a systems-based approach that considers the environmental influences and empowers individuals is critical,’ they said. 

The spokesperson added that the NPHS includes an aim to increase investment in prevention, which is ‘underpinned by investment in preventive health rising to be 5% of total health expenditure across Commonwealth, state and territory governments by 2030’. 

Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler was also contacted for comment. 

*This article was updated at 10.25 am on 4 April to include the response from DoHAC.

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