IT SEEMS odd that state governments would still need to be advised that prevention is better than cure but that, reportedly, is the advice Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be delivering state leaders next week.
Surely that line of logic was established long ago.
A report to be released on July 3 at a COAG meeting calls for better health education and stabilising of people's health conditions so that the growing strain on our public hospital is eased.
This report, despite delivering what will apparently be a straightforward and obvious message, will resonate in the wake of another which suggests that on a per capita basis Australians are the most overweight nation on earth.
The dubious title that many thought the United States had a stranglehold on is now, evidently, ours.
One report suggested obesity in Australia could bring about 123,000 premature deaths over the next 20 years.
For a nation that trades on a reputation for sporting prowess and outdoor lifestyles this is hardly something to be proud of.
We grumble when our athletes don't bring home a swag of Olympic medals despite them competing against countries with much larger populations, we expect our cricketers to return home triumphant after every overseas series,
and we go in droves to watch games of Australian Rules football.
Yet the reputation for being outdoors and active appears to be untrue for many Australians and our overweight status will add further burden to our health services.
Anyone who lived through the 1970s would recall the ubiquitous Life Be In It advertisements, part of a campaign to get Australians off couches and moving.
Other campaigns have followed but seem not to have resonated in quite the same way. Yet it remains vitally important that the obesity problem is tackled head-on.
Conservation the key for water price rise
THE water price rise announced last Friday was painful but not as painful as forecast.
Water, essential for everything and now more than ever a commodity, will become a significantly more costly household item.
As the expensive water from the superpipe system starts to enter our homes it will help family budgets and the stressed Goulburn River if we maintain our water conservation mindset.