Queensland towns top nation for obesity rates About 60 per cent of Australian adults are classified as overweight, with Queensland in the lead. UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver brings his battle against the bulge to Geelong. DOCTORS have called for mandatory cooking classes in schools and warned that Australia's fat belts will get fatter unless people are sent back to the kitchen. Australian Medical Association boss Steve Hambleton has bemoaned the loss of the Sunday roast, saying some people wouldn't even know how to cook a chook. Plain packaging and graphic images in obesity fight Poverty a poor excuse for obesity Australians are eating themselves to death, and the worst offenders are in Queensland. About 60 per cent of adults throughout Australia are classified as overweight, and by 2025 it is projected one-third of Australians will develop Type-2 diabetes in their lifetime. About one in four children aged 2-16 are categorised as overweight or obese. Mr Hambleton said it was disappointing that some one-bedroom units were now built without proper kitchens. "It's because we eat out too much," Dr Hambleton said. There's a de-skilling of a generation. Everyone (in schools) should be taught how to prepare and cook food. This should be in the national curriculum. People should be able to get a list, go shopping and prepare a meal. They are better off doing that (teaching cooking in schools) than building an institute of sport. There's no point having fresh food at the supermarket if no one knows how to cook it. Is there a raw chicken in anyone's fridge any more? Who does a roast any more? He said some fast food was cheaper and more convenient than fresh produce, especially in country areas. There needs to be a transport subsidy. It's cheaper to buy a deep fried Chiko Roll in rural areas than fresh fruit and vegetables because they deteriorate. He said any subsidy would be pointless if people didn't know how to cook. Nutrition Australia spokeswoman Aloysa Hourigan said there were planned changes to the school curriculum at the end of the year but it wouldn't be enough because cooking itself would not be taught to all students throughout their school life. "There's a poor recognition of basic foods and where they come from," Ms Hourigan said. Usually it's a time thing and not knowing how to cook. It's a lost art. (Some people) haven't had exposure to watching their parents cook in the kitchen. Parents in low socio-economic areas are very hesitant to buy fruit and vegetables if they don't know if their kids will eat them. She said while televised cooking shows were popular, the food cooked looked "like a complicated event." Education Queensland spokeswoman Marg Pethiyagoda said students would be taught the value of food and nutrition under the Australian curriculum but it would not be compulsory for all students in all years. Federal Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority was developing a curriculum for foundation to Year 10 in health, physical education, design and technologies. It had been proposed that students in Year 8 undertake home economics, Mr Pyne said. The draft Health and Physical Education curriculum proposes to cover food and nutrition. We have already suggested there will be periodic reviewing of the national curriculum if the Coalition wins the election as we do not view it as a static document, but one that can benefit from ongoing development. Schools Minister Bill Shorten did not comment. Adelaide University's Public Health Information Development Unit last year found that Bundaberg had the highest rate of obesity of any local government area. 1 Bundaberg (QLD) 24.45 2 Kempsey (NSW) 24.41 2 Bowen (QLD) 24.41 4 Maryborough (QLD) 24.31 5 Lithgow (NSW) 24.20 6 Cessnock (NSW) 23.86 7 Nambucca (NSW) 23.80 8 Broken Hill (NSW) 23.79 9 Parkes (NSW) 23.66 10 Inverell (NSW) 23.33 Rates per 100 people