Introduction
The humans have achieved many milestones in the technological arena, which have lessened the hassle of accomplishing daily life work phenomenally. However, the downside of adopting the technological gadgets extensively is the induction of sedentary lifestyle. In addition to it, the inclination of people to consume fast food with little or no physical exercise has triggered a drastic augmentation in the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the people. In other words, the proportion of people being overweight and obese is rising unprecedentedly all over the world, specifically in the developed regions (Leung & Funder, 2014).
Australia is a prominent name among the list of countries where obesity is breeding markedly. Further, the literature sketches a horrific picture of the prevalence of obesity in Australia. According to the figures, far more than half the adult population in the region are reported to be obese while a quarter of the children’s group is also victimized by the condition (AIHW, 2016).
In this regard, the paper sights to present a picture of the obesity epidemic in Australia and its potential causes. Additionally, a focus is placed on the community needs to curb this condition, for fostering a healthy lifestyle among the denizens, along with highlighting the interventions already in practice and further services or policies that must be adopted.

Obesity among Australians
Obesity is a concern that looms large for the Australians as its growth is rampant and the effects are detrimental. The results of a survey, conducted in Australia around half a decade ago, elucidated that more than sixty percent of Australians were overweight, with around half of this number classified as obese (NHMRC, 2015). It portrays a worrying condition as these figures are already in excess to the numbers predicted for the time when the survey was carried out (Leung & Funder, 2014).
Further, these statistics led Australia to take up a position in top ranking countries that are afflicted with the obesity epidemic. Besides, it was further projected that after 2010, the count of overweight and obese Australians will cross the mark of sixty-five percent over the next decade (NHMRC, 2015) while the figures are expected to go beyond seventy percent by the year 2025 (Walls, et al., 2012).

The prevalence of obesity is not restricted to any age, gender, or ethnicity; hence, it has acquired a diversified visage by existing in all the facets of the Australian population. When the existence of obesity is under discussion within the children and youth segment of the population, it shows lesser incidences in comparison to adults. However, it would be wrong to perceive that the condition is less concerning, by any means, as the obesity rate has shown to rise since the mid-1980s till date. In this regard, the percentage of obese children has increased by 5%, which implies an increase of count to more than a quarter of the total Australian children (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Moreover, it has been identified by the studies that obesity among children is much likely to continue well into their adulthood. It indicates that obese children will turn into obese adults who will be at a massive risk of developing lifelong illnesses such as cardiovascular enormities, Type 2 Diabetes, cancer, and so forth (Leung & Funder, 2014).
Furthermore, evaluation of obesity in the context of gender brings forth an observation that the average weight of Australians, males as well as females, has augmented significantly with males occupying a higher place. Additionally, the numbers have escalated to add ten percent of more people, from both the gender groups, in the obese category over the period of about 1.5 decades since the mid-1990s. Besides, it is projected that the obese population will rise to cross thirty-five percent of the total population by the next decade (Leung & Funder, 2014).
Similarly, ethnicity is also an important factor in determining the likelihood of being
obese within the Australian population. Where native Australians are less probable of being
overweight or obese than the people with North African, European, and Middle Eastern origins, Australians are more obese than Asians and sub-Saharan Africans (Leung & Funder, 2014). Further, the geographic location is also a determining factor for the probability of prevalence of obesity. In this context, the rural regions of Australia display higher numbers of overweight and obese people than the urban areas. The rural regions comprise of inner Australian territories as well as suburbs, and among them, the inhabitants of the outskirts exhibit higher possibility of being overweight and obese than their inner-regional counterparts (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). Precisely, the Torres Strait Islanders and Australian Aboriginals depict higher rates of obesity than the non-native citizens (Penm, 2008).

Risk Factors and Potential Causes of Obesity
Obesity is an outcome of a condition where the imbalance between energy consumption and utilization occurs. The major causes of this condition incorporate inadequate physical work, consumption of unhealthy food, and genetic influence.
Expansively, the human society has experienced a drastic change in its physical characteristics, which has affected not only the willingness and vigor of people to engage in physical activities but also persuaded them to adopt unhealthy eating behaviours. Moreover, the work environments have also undergone structural changes, which has begotten to the replacement of active working with sedentary practices (Commonwealth of Australia, 2014). Employees are required to sit for long spells in front of a computer screen, in the current times, and they hardly get to roam around and move their muscles. Additionally, the corporate world now demands the employees to work for extra hours, which renders them unable to spare time for physical recreation or going to gym. Therefore, the fat burning process experiences dormancy and its build up accelerates (Commonwealth of Australia, 2014).

The urbanization has also caused the availability of fast food widespread. Additionally, the lack of time, due to prolonged workhours, has diminished the trend of cooking at home regularly; therefore, people prefer eating out or buying ready-to-eat food that is high in calories. Further, the unhealthy food items are extensively marketed to persuade common people to consider such commodities a necessity and subsequently purchase them (Commonwealth of Australia, 2014).

It is also a dilemma of the society that unhealthy food items are readily and cheaply available while the fresh, wholesome food including fruits and vegetables are relatively expensive. In this context, consumption of fruits and vegetables is essential for imparting health among humans; however, its inadequate consumption implies a deficiency of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that are vital in putting off obesity and related diseases. It has been recorded that a dearth of fruits’ and vegetables’ consumption contribute significantly to the overall burden of disease witnessed in Australia (Begg, et al., 2007). Furthermore, Campbell (2016) unveils that around half the Australian population does not consume fruits as per the Australian Dietary Guidelines whereas the count goes above ninety percent when vegetable consumption is concerned. It portrays a dreary picture and highlights the risk of obesity epidemic to continue to escalate in Australia if the eating habits remain the same.

Besides, genetics is a crucial factor that determines the onset and prevalence of obesity among individuals. In this regard, a gene is responsible for controlling body fat and subsequently obesity, and is influenced by the environmental elements such as lifestyle. Besides, a big majority of the Australians are vulnerable to contract obesity due to the extensively prevailing lifestyle ills, which can turn on the fat mass gene (Leung & Funder, 2014).
Likewise, epigenetics is yet another aspect that is potential of causing obesity in the offspring. It entails that if a mother consumes inadequate nutrients during pregnancy, the genes of the fetus modifies in a way as to induce excessive hunger and satiety, which leads to rapid increase in body mass right after the birth. On the contrary, if the mother is obese and ingests huge amounts of calories, the offspring will develop the tendency to become obese too. Moreover, the epigenetic modifications regulate the endocrine system such that hunger intensifies and weight loss becomes impossible in the offspring (Ruchat & Mottola, 2012).
Strengths and Deficits of the Community
Although Australia is among the developed nations and has a stable economy with social comforts for its denizens, there exists a health deficit between the native and non-native people. In other words, where education, health facilities, and economic benefits are contributing to the advancement of Australians living in the urban areas, the socially-disadvantaged proportion of the population is languishing in inadequacies of well-being (Friel, 2009). As an outcome of social exclusion, shabby living conditions, and thriving with social disadvantages, the indigenous Australians develop risky behaviours and tend to have shorter lifespans (Friel, 2009).

It has been identified that the indigenous Australians lack wholesome food and are not engaged in physical activities, which makes them more susceptible to obesity and the subsequent chronic ailments in comparison to the non-indigenous population. Moreover, a deficit approach is currently popular in the Australian society that existence of improper dietary behaviours promote diseases. However, the educated lot of the community can reverse this thinking, into a strength-based approach, by spreading awareness that nutritious eating can promote a healthy lifestyle (Foley & Schubert, 2013). Likewise, intelligent planning can overcome the community deficits to combat obesity efficiently.
Resources, Structures, Systems and Potential Actions to Address the Factors/Causes
It has been brought forth in the research findings that few of the interventions to combat obesity in Australia proved to be unproductive. It would be incorrect to doubt the efficiency of the preventive plans because the reason of being unsuccessful is not the inefficacy of interventions; rather, it was the poor understanding and cognizance of the causes of obesity.
Additionally, Australians did not realize their responsibilities regarding the need to participate in the obesity-abatement campaigns; thus, the overall community involvement was minimal (Grima & Dixon, 2013). Further, the government had remained complacent about taking firm steps to control obesity because the revenue generation from the junk food industry is high and its marketing was benefitting the economy eventually.

However, the consequences of obesity intensified the burden on the country’s health care system and required a huge investment to cater to the obesity-related illnesses; therefore, Federal Government realized an utter need to develop policies to prevent and control obesity. In this regard, obesity was placed on the top ten list of National Health Priority Areas in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Further, a huge budget, summing up to more than AUD 900 million, was allocated to initiate implementations for ailments including obesity (Leung & Funder, 2014), and relevant health agencies were formulated to devise programs to address health enormities.
The Federal Government has also taken initiatives on a grass-root level by supporting the local governments in providing awareness about the healthy diet and physical activities through community gardens, group-based tours, and cooking training. Moreover, an initiative named Healthy Children was also funded by the government, which was focused on promoting nutritious diet and physical activities among the children to address childhood obesity (Leung & Funder, 2014). Additionally, an amount of about AUD 300 million has been allocated for another initiative that aims to promote healthy diet and exercise at workplaces to battle against the sedentary working practices (Leung & Funder, 2014). Furthermore, another governmental intervention involved the use of social marketing tools for making the Australians aware of the changes in the lifestyle that are imperative for restoring good health condition (Leung & Funder, 2014).
Although several weight-management programs are being operated in different regions of
Australia that coach the participants regarding diet and physical fitness, the issue of weight regain after the program completion is a disturbing aspect (Wadden, Butryn & Wilson, 2007). It should be acknowledged that the genetic and environmental factors persist even after a weight management training has been accomplished; therefore, the probability of the obesity relapse is significantly high. Subsequently, the treatment plan must integrate the chronic aspect of obesity condition so that external support such as medications, counselling, and surgery can be incorporated into the treatment plan along with the weight management through lifestyle modifications.
Conclusion
Conclusively, Australia is among the prominent countries where obesity is considered the most debilitating condition. A large majority of the population, including adults as well as children, has been reported to possess a BMI value above 30. It indicates that Australians stand at a dangerous position of developing life-threatening diseases, which raises a need to be acquainted with the risk factors. Furthermore, the prevalence of obesity, among the Australians, varies across the facets of age, gender, ethnicity, and geography.
Besides, the major causes of obesity among the Australians have been recognized as inadequate physical activities, consumption of unhealthy diet, and genetic factors. In this context, genes for fat accumulation activates when an unhealthy diet is accompanied with a sedentary lifestyle, while healthy living can turn off the genetic mechanism of obesity development. Hence, a rigorous community effort is required to control the obesity condition among the Australians for which the government has to take a lead and address all the vulnerable groups.