According to a report from the Australian Associated Press, Australia has one of the world's highest rates of diabetes because of over eating and lack of exercise and the epidemic could lead to a major crisis, according to a study Thursday.

An estimated one million Australians, about one in 20, have diabetes, according to the report. The prevalence of diabetes in Australia matches or exceeds every Western nation except the United States, the study revealed.

Professor Robert Zimmet, director of the International Diabetes Institute which prepared the report, said overeating, lack of exercise, mechanization and an aging society were driving the epidemic.

"This problem goes beyond medicine," Zimmet said. "Our whole way of life is moving us away from scenarios where we can maintain good health," he said.

Diabetes cases have jumped 300 percent since 1981, the study said.

Beyond becoming a major health problem, Zimmet said the costs of treating diabetes could spark a crisis for the government-funded health system.

The cost to the state of treating diabetes, now running at 200 million Australian dollars, would hit 2 billion Australian dollars within four years, the study said.

The report, based on a study of 11,000 people, concluded that 40 percent of Australians are overweight and a further 20 percent are obese. More than half of Australia's adults have high cholesterol and 30 percent have high blood pressure.