Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas says it is time to develop a national plan to cut the amounts of energy, fat, sugar and salt in fast food.

Mr Lucas says the fast food habit is having a devastating effect on the nation’s health.

“In 1980, 8 per cent of the Australian population was obese. Today it is 25 per cent and the real problem is we have got an epidemic of diabetes,” he said.

“If someone ends up on dialysis at the end of that, that is $80,000 a year to treat. This is an epidemic and it is one that we have to take action on.”

Queensland leads push for fast food crackdown – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The study that looked at the burden of overweight citizens in six countries — Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa — has found that between 1998 and 2005, India’s overweight rates increased by 20%.

Currently, almost 1 in 5 men and over 1 in 6 women are overweight. In some urban areas, the rates are as high as 40%.

Published in the Lancet on Thursday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the study warns that low-income countries cannot cope with the health consequences of wide scale obesity.

‘India in grip of obesity epidemic’ – The Times of India