Youtuber Jamie Zhu documents his time in Tamworth, Australia's most obese city

Reflecting on his time in the regional city, Jamie Zhu said what blew him away most, was how open residents were about the health crisis affecting their region.

"What I was surprised by was how open and welcoming they were in terms of discussing the issue," Mr Zhu said.

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Tamworth was given the unflattering title of fattest town in Australia back in 2020, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 61.2 per cent of residents were considered obese, compared to 31.3 per cent nationally.

Wanting to show how the obesity epidemic is impacting Australia, Mr Zhu took inspiration from an American youtuber, who also spent 24-hours in the most obese city in America, McAllen in Texas.

After researching and travelling to Tamworth Mr Zhu said he had no idea what to expect.

"Just upon research I knew there was a lot of fast food outlets and I didn't know if the locals were aware of this title," Mr Zhu said.

In the almost-10 minute video, Mr Zhu travels throughout the city, ordering food from different cafés and restaurants, and interviews locals and business owners.

He said he found residents to be not only well aware of the obesity crisis, but also wanting to improve upon their situation.

"I definitely felt for the community cause Tamworth is a small town. The locals I met were so nice and open and loving, you could tell everyone wanted to improve their situation," he said.

"As a result of the amount of fast food restaurants compared to the healthy food outlets, it was sad to see the disparity between the two," he said.

Mr Zhu also interviewed local member Kevin Anderson, who said that Tamworth tries to provide plenty of exercise opportunities for both kids and adults.

At the end of the video Mr Zhu noted he wasn't about shaming residents of the regional city, but instead wanted to shine a light on a larger topic impacting not only Australia, but the rest of the world.

"I think awareness is key and it's very clear to me that locals have an awareness on health and Tamworth does need to step up it's game in that area," Mr Zhu said.

"Even having the title of being the most obese city in Australia, provides a level of insight into Tamworth locals' way of living and now they know about the issue, it inclines them to make better decisions."

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