Schools are 'chronic disease time bombs'

Hoisted by their own petards.

The largest survey of Australian secondary students in 25 years has revealed a "chronic disease time bomb", with weight problems, lax exercise habits and poor diets as the norm.

The survey involved 12,000 teenagers across almost 240 schools and found one in four were overweight or obese.

Just 14 per cent of the students were found to meet both the recommended daily intake of vegetables and fruit, while 85 per cent did not engage in enough activity for it to have a health benefit.

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These results should sound an alarm bell among educators, health professionals and parents, said Cancer Council Australia chief executive Professor Ian Olver.

It showed a "chronic disease time bomb" which would pose a rising threat to the health system, as well as expectations of longevity, in Australia's not too distant future.

"If ever there was a wake-up call for Australians, this is it," Prof Olver said.

The response?

Yawn.