Weight loss surgery is increasingly popular Down Under, but for the first time, the numbers show that the benefits of the procedure for the average patient fall far short of the costs for health insurance providers. Read the full story

This week on WLS News, we’ll explain how calorie counts on fast food menus could curb the obesity epidemic, and why weight loss surgery is becoming increasingly popular Down Under — despite protests from the nation’s major insurance carriers. Plus, find out how much exercise is needed per day for women to maintain their weight, and see why obesity may be under-diagnosed in America. Get the details on all of these stories and more in this week’s newscast. Read the full story

More than half the childcare centers in the state of South Australia are backing away from the state Health Department’s obesity-fighting initiative, complaining that the program is just too difficult to put into practice. Read the full story

Aussie Leaders Weigh in on Weight Loss Surgery

According to recent reports, the Australian federal government is considering funding lap-band surgery to curb rising rates of obesity Down Under.

The move came after Australian Government sources heard evidence that the surgery could help obese patients lose up to 60% of their body weight. Since Australia has a national health care system, these surgeries could cut the cost to the taxpayer for the treatment of people with obesity-triggered diabetes and heart disease.

And there are a good many such people in the land of the koala and kangaroo. Sixty percent of Australians are currently estimated to be overweight, according to recent figures, putting Oz among the fattest countries in the world. Morbidly obese patients are so common in some areas that many local ambulance services have had to buy special “mega-lift” ambulances, which are capable of handling patients weighing more than 400 pounds.

Critics point to the expense of the proposed program and the logistics of making weight loss surgery available to all Australians. Nevertheless, although Australia encompasses an entire continent, its population is concentrated in a few coastal cities, and proponents of the weight loss surgery plan are betting that the Government can implement the plan using the big cities as a base.