That is the title of a recent discussion paper authored by the National Preventative Health Task Force, a committee of medical experts set up by the Commonwealth government.

So what did the ‘Australia: the healthiest country by 2020′ report conclude?

Obesity, tobacco and alcohol use are our three biggest problems and Australians must do better in combating these. These three problems cost almost $6 billion per year in direct health costs and another $13 billion a year in indirect costs. One of the major indirect costs identified in the report was that of absenteeism and poor performance at work.

This further highlights that poor health is not only costing the taxpayer money, but also costing employers significant amounts of money. As a provider of corporate wellness services, our major goal is to minimise these indirect costs in order to save the employer money while directly impacting the health of individual employees.

Alarmingly, the report also predicted that by the time our children reached early childhood, their life expectancy will be two years less than today’s average because of the effects of overweight and obesity. This means that we are going backwards, despite all the recent medical advances and improvements in health care.

There is no doubt we have to work harder at improving the health of our nation.