Gold Coast MP and long-standing medical practitioner Dr Alex Douglas says obese Australians should be cutting back on their daily fix of coffee and weekly takeaway meals rather than tapping into their superannuation to pay for expensive weight-loss surgery.
His comments come in light of figures which suggest a growing number of Australians are using their superannuation to have surgery.
“If people had one less cappuccino a day and one less takeaway meal each week they would save themselves in both health and economic terms and for many they would not need to be having expensive weight-reducing surgery,” he said.
“Rather than using superannuation as a last resort, people should be asking after they’ve had their second stubby of beer should they be having a third or fourth stubby, or after a piece of chocolate should they not stop before they eat the whole packet of chocolate?
“Whilst belonging to the individual, superannuation is for people to have sufficient income for their retirement without being dependent on the government for their day to day living.
“Just as superannuation shouldn’t be seen as a mechanism to facilitate speculation in the stock or housing markets, or as security for a home mortgage, it should not be used for gastric surgery.
“People need to understand that gastric sleeve surgery is a luxury item and they cannot justify their access to superannuation because they can’t give up something.
“My advice to obese patients is to cut back on their food intake and take up regular exercise rather than wanting to have expensive surgery which for many of them is far out of their reach.
“Gastric surgery is no guarantee for a healthy life and not always a quick fix.”
The number of Australians undergoing weight loss surgery has soared in recent years – up from around 500 in 1998-99 to 17,000 in 2007-08, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s 2010 report on weight loss surgery in Australia.
Dr Douglas is the State Member for Gaven and a member of the Queensland Parliament’s Health and Community Services Committee.
Eating disorders and obesity will be highlighted at a conference on the Gold Coast on May 18 and 19 next year.