Australian waistlines are on the increase, and we’re fattening-up faster than nearly everyone else.

A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has placed Australia third in its ranking of increases in adult obesity.

The only nations bulging at a greater rate than Australia are the United States and Mexico.

Professor of Health Policy at Curtin University Mike Daube says; “We have a top-class health system, we are smoking less, we eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and our life expectancy is now around 82 - but much of this progress is being put at risk because of our dismal failure to deal with obesity.”

The newly-released ‘Health at a Glance 2013’ report shows 28 per cent of Australians are obese, compared with just under 25 per cent in Britain.

Australia is ballooning faster than New Zealand, but our cross-Tasman neighbours do have a greater proportion of adults and children already deemed obese.

The report also found Australia is among the highest ranking nations for the prescription of statins and anti-depressants.

University of Sydney Professor of Psychopharmacology Iain McGregor says; “Anti-depressants are given out like candy, but they are not innocuous.”

“We all know someone whose life has been saved or turned around by medication, but if you have mild or moderate depression, or have had a couple of nasty life events, generally the data says you are better off seeing a psychologist,” he said.

Australia also has the third-highest rate in the OECD of foreign objects being left inside after surgery.

Australians had 8.6 cases of foreign objects left in their bodies after surgery per 100,000 people who leave hospital. There is a chance that this statistic is affected by Australia’s higher reporting standards.