The ACT chief health officer has served up a bit of hard truth to Canberrans saying we are not as fit or trim as we might like to think.
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Dr Paul Kelly said the vision of the average Canberran striding around the lake was far from the reality.
"If you look around the lake you will find people that look healthy and active but that is not the typical Canberran. The typical Canberran is similar to the typical anywhere else in Australia and that is the issue," he said.
"We know 63 per cent of adults, and about 25 per cent of children in the ACT are overweight and obese."
These stark figures have remained stable since a baseline for the Healthy Weight Initiative was formed in 2010 however Dr Kelly said Canberrans "should be doing better than we are."
"As a population we are wealthier, healthier and wiser than the rest of Australia yet we are having the same problems with obesity," he said.
Dr Kelly explained the failings through what he called "the Canberra paradox".
"When you look at what we have available to us in terms of physical amenity, cycleways, parks, we should be more fit than we are," he said.
"When you look at the social determinants of our educational attainment, employment status, our income, we should be doing better than we are."
Concerted focus on this issue had delivered some wins including a reduction in the consumption in sugar-sweetened beverages across the capital.
Dr Kelly said reversing the rapid increases in weight was "a marathon, not a sprint" however said more work was needed to address physical activity levels and the consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Physical activity levels in adults have not changed substantially during the lifetime of the Healthy Weight Initiative skirting around 59 to 60 per cent.
And the percentage of primary school aged children meeting physical activity guidelines had fallen to 15 per cent, below the initial baseline figure of 19 per cent set in 2010.
Dr Kelly said a change in mindset was necessary as modest weight changes population-wide could reduce disease burden and demand on health services and significantly, as show in a recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report.
"We don't need biggest loser style losses in weight, it's about modest changes sustained across a population," he said.
"It's about having two squares of chocolate less or one square of chocolate less and an extra half hour walking."
