Australia's obesity is now at par with America, and health experts are seeking for an urgent government intervention to combat obesity and stop it from becoming common place.

Almost 500,000 Australians are ''super obese'', a five-fold increase over two decades, with weight-loss surgeons reporting they are treating more patients at serious risk of premature death.

In addition, obesity experts claim 2 to 3 per cent of the population to have outgrown obese and morbidly obese classifications to become super obese - those with a body mass index of 50 or more. However, some weigh even above 200 kilograms.

The Sunday Age reports a five-fold increase in the weight of Australians in the past two decades.

Obesity specialist John Dixon augurs that the country could witness super obesity to double in the next decade if no strict step in undertaken in this respect.

Experts feel that the problem remains mainly hidden with many people either too embarrassed or unable to leave the house. ''The only time they're seen is for acute-care circumstances and that by itself is a problem. They're the ones in most need of attention but least present [to a doctor] because of the stigma”, they say.