Spring has sprung, daylight savings is lighting up the night and we are the world's third healthiest country (behind Italy and Singapore) according to Bloomberg's recent ranking.
There's no denying it - at first glance, Australian life paints a pretty picture. But, contrary to the Australian stereotype of good health and living the good life, the reality looks less glossy.
A survey of 3000 Brits, Americans and Australians has found that while outsiders believe us to be a nation of barbecue-addicted exerciuse junkies, the majority of us spend most of our time indoors or at work.
The June study, by Galaxy Research on behalf of Metamucil, explored the lifestyles and perceptions of health amongst the three nationalities.
It was found that over 60 per cent of the British and American respondents believe Aussies are fitter and healthier than they are and almost half (46 per cent of British and 36 per cent of Americans) believed shrimps and steaks form the staples of our national diet.
Red meat is indeed big business. Along with starchy vegetables (e.g. potatoes), refined cereals, fast food and alcohol, Australian Dietary Guidelines suggest we are consuming too much red meat.
However, the reality about our supposed outdoors lifestyle is that 87 per cent of the Australian respondents said they spend the majority of their time indoors, at home or enjoying the gentle rays of their workplace computer rather than those of the great outdoors.
As for our passion for sport, for most people, it is confined to watching the athletic pursuits of others. In reality, only 28 per cent said they play sport regularly, with swimming (14 per cent) and tennis (7 per cent) topping the popularity stakes.
These sobering statistics are reflected in other studies on Australian health and wellbeing. According to the ABS, only one in three of us play sport regularly, while the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says more than nine in 10 people aged 16 and over do not consume enough vegetables. One in four children have an unhealthy body weight and six in 10 adults are overweight or obese.
Not such a pretty picture.
