Impacts of obesity on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

To calculate the disease burden, researchers combine estimates of the number of years lost due to premature death, and the years of healthy life lost due to illness (for example, four years lived with a chronic illness might become 2.7 disability-adjusted life years).¹ A total of 19 modifiable risk factors contributed to 49% of the total disease burden for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.¹ The figure below shows the top risk factors contributing to the burden of disease. Overweight (including obesity) contributed to 9.7% of the total burden of disease, making it the third highest modifiable risk factor, after tobacco use (11.9%) and alcohol use (10.5%). Dietary risks contributed 6.2% and physical inactivity 2.4% to the total disease burden.¹ Within the dietary risk factors, the greatest contributors to disease burden were a diet low in legumes (1.5%), followed by a diet high in sodium (1.3%), then a diet low in fruit, diet high in red meat, and diet low in nuts & seeds (all 1.1%).¹

To compare changes in the burden of disease over time, both the overall number and rates are reported as well as adjusted rates to account for changes in age and population size, known as age-standardised rates.

Between 2003 and 2018 there was an overall increase of 73% in the total number of healthy years lost (DALY) caused by overweight (including obesity) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, partly due to population growth and increased lifespan.¹ However, after adjusting for age and population size, there was a decrease of 10.4% in the age-standardised rate of DALYs due to overweight (including obesity).¹ Over the same time period, the age-standardised rate for the burden of disease attributable to dietary risks among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people decreased by 38.9%.¹ There was a decrease in the overall rate of deaths associated with overweight (including obesity) of 32% between 2003 and 2018 (from 2.1 to 1.4 deaths per 1,000).¹

High body mass index (BMI) and dietary risks were linked to various disease groups for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In particular, high BMI contributed 59.3% of the burden for endocrine disorders (including diabetes), 51.7% for kidney and urinary diseases, 32.5% for cardiovascular diseases and 8.5% for cancer.¹ Dietary risks contributed 44.7% of the burden for cardiovascular diseases and 5% for cancer.¹ High body mass and dietary factors made a greater contribution to the total disease burden for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with increasing age, consistent with the increased occurrence of chronic conditions in later life, and peaked in the 65 to 74-year-old age group for both men (16% of DALYs) and women (18% of DALYs).¹

Approximately two-thirds (66%) of the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in 2018 was due to modifiable risk factors, of which tobacco had the largest effect (20.3%), followed by overweight (including obesity) (14.9%).¹

Content for this page was reviewed and updated by Melanie Nichols, and reviewed by Troy Walker at GLOBE, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University. For more information about the approach to content on the site please see About | Obesity Evidence Hub.