Links between sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles, some forms of diseases such as diabetes and obesity, and whether your neighbour should pay part of your health care will challenge the audience of a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Wednesday 31 August. Recently appointed Professor of Exercise Science and acting Head of CSU’s School of Human Movement Studies in Bathurst, Professor Robert Robergs, will deliver his first major lecture as part of the annual CSU Education Faculty forum. Professor Robergs’s lecture, titled The exercise and disease prevention dilemma: what we know but choose to ignore, will explore past studies of the causes of sedentary lifestyle diseases and the importance of physical activity and fitness in disease prevention. “We know that being physically fit, regardless of age, is essential for helping prevent disease,” Professor Robergs said. “There are barriers to developing an active lifestyle, and behaviour change is not just about medical and physiological knowledge. Central to this challenge is the responsibility of a citizen in a liberal social democracy. Does being sedentary increase risk and health care costs, like not wearing a seat belt when driving a car? If so, should we tax the sedentary? Why is it against the law to serve someone too much alcohol, but not too much food?”