Fit for office

In 2001 the World Health Organisation adopted the word "globesity" to describe the global obesity epidemic.

Globesity is now a serious threat to the health of most nations and threatens a public health crisis in developed and developing nations.

The WHO is undertaking massive global public awareness campaigns to alert policy makers, the medical profession and the public to the gravity of the problem.

The major solution to this worldwide problem is universally agreed - healthy lifestyle choices including regular physical exercise.

In September last year, the Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, launched with great fanfare a National Preventative Health Strategy.

The strategy has a focus on three main areas – obesity, tobacco and alcohol.

According to the 2004–2005 National Health Survey about one-third of Australians are regarded as overweight or obese, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that more than 50 per cent of adults are overweight or obese.

More than 70 per cent of Australia's health budget is dedicated to treating chronic disease, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Obesity is identified as a major factor in the early onset of many chronic illnesses.

Behavioural measures, including healthy lifestyle choices, have been shown to prevent or delay the onset of chronic disease for many people.

To its credit, the Rudd Government has increased funding for preventative health.

It has also allocated millions of dollars for advertising campaigns to educate Australians about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

As the old saying goes, ''an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure''.

In recent weeks and months, Kevin Rudd has been running a politically motivated scare campaign with regard to health, claiming that state government budgets will soon be overwhelmed by the rising costs of health care.

But he has barely mentioned that many of the diseases putting pressure on the health system are so-called ''lifestyle diseases'' and that significant pressure could be taken off the health system through a broad community commitment to a healthier lifestyle.

There is a high profile, living, breathing example of all that the Rudd Governments multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns advocate.

As was evident from his completion of an iron man triathlon contest at the age of 52, the leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, is in peak physical fitness.

What is surprising, or alarming, is that Nicola Roxon used her role as Health Minister to criticise Tony Abbott's exercise regime.

She apparently cannot understand how Tony Abbott combines a busy work schedule with exercise and therefore concludes he is not sufficiently focused on policy development.

Given that Tony usually starts his regular fitness routine at 5am, it would be interesting to know how much policy work Nicola Roxon or any other Rudd Government Minister is doing at 5am.

To make matters worse, the Rudd Government launched a concerted attack on Tony Abbott's commitment to exercise, with Ministers Gillard, Swan, Tanner and Roxon all questioning the time he spent exercising, suggesting that if he took his job seriously, he wouldn’t have time to exercise - and that if he's exercising his body he isn't exercising his brain.

These are precisely the wrong messages for the Government to send.

In their opportunistic attempts to denigrate Tony Abbott, these ministers have effectively said that if you hold down a senior job you don't have time to exercise.

As the leader of a political party, Tony Abbott is setting a fine example and sending a clear message that we can all increase our level of physical activity.

Tony's rigorous routine is obviously not for everyone, but he is sending a message that Australians should make a commitment to regular exercise.

There are factors which affect our health which we cannot change, such as age and genetics, but we should all work on the things which we can change.

This is a serious message that should be heeded not only in Australia but worldwide.

Tony Abbott should be applauded, not criticised, for making physical fitness an integral part of his life.