Evolution is endowing Australians with big guts and butts as gluttony, sedentary work, and sedentary leisure take their toll and the average man and woman is overweight.
Its probably worse for children as compared to the children of past ages who were extremely active compared to the sedentary life of today's children.
How long before the average Australian transitions from overweight to obese?
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/bigger-taller-... Quote:... It is April 2008. In an ultra-chic boutique in Chapel Street, Melbourne, 28-year-old Lucy Jamieson is squeezing a knee-length, ice-blue skirt over her generous derrière and thighs in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror. At 71kg and 163cm tall, she is the average weight and height for today, 12kg heavier but only 2cm taller than her great-great grandmother who shared her first name. She’s read that the average size in Australia is now 16, but she is constantly irritated by the inconsistencies in dress sizes between shops. She’s already been to Seduce, where she’s a size 14, and Country Road, where she’s a 12. Her proportions bear little resemblance to the mannequin in the window, little changed since Edwardian times. Outside, her 26-year-old boyfriend Joe is fussing with the camera settings on his new mobile phone. At 85kg and 178cm tall, he is the average size for a man of his age, 13kg heavier than a typical male back in the 1920s. As Lucy steps out of the shop, Joe takes a happy snap.
It’s no secret that Australians are getting heavier, that almost two-thirds of us are battling the bulge, that our kids seem bigger, taller and stronger than we were at their age. But try this on for size: little by little, our body shapes have changed over the course of a few generations – so much so that it’s taken not only public health experts but also biologists and micro-evolutionists by surprise. Women’s hips have become wider, their breasts, bums and feet bigger. Men look different too, with thicker necks, backs and chests. We have all become taller (but not nearly as much as our cousins in northern Europe). The waists of both sexes, which form the foundation of the hourglass silhouette in women and the V-shaped chest in men, are disappearing as the bodies of both genders become more tube-like. Girls are developing breasts two years earlier and menstruating at least a year earlier. Boys are reaching their adult height at a younger age, 17, but the growth spurt is happening in their legs, creating a lankier look. Blood pressures are significantly up (even among children). Sperm counts are dramatically down. We’re three times more likely to be short-sighted, and five times more likely to suffer from Type II diabetes. And yet our bodies are lasting much longer: in 1926 the average male could expect to live to 59 and the average female 63; today it’s 77 and 82 respectively, which can be chalked up to seismic advances in medicine, and a big drop in the rates of infant mortality and infectious disease. ...