Childhood obesity in Australia is a growing concern that requires a pro-active response to effectively mediate. As childhood obesity continues to affect the nation, it’s become a widespread health concern that all Australians should take note of. While recent reports have attempted to minimize the impact and pervasiveness of obesity in children, many health professionals are saying that the situation is much more dire than people realize. Obesity in Australia affects approximately 6 to 8 percent of schoolchildren, and data reflects a rise in recent years. Action should be taken to minimize this escalation and prevent childhood obesity from becoming an increased national concern.
Obesity doesn’t just affect quality of life, it also has a dramatic impact on children’s health and risk for disease as adults. Some of the health problems typically only found in adults are starting to become issues for children. In extreme cases, hypertension and diabetes are afflicting children as obesity in Australia continues to rise. Taking proactive steps to instill good eating habits in children and taking appropriate action to educate schoolchildren is paramount to a resolution for this growing issue.
There are a range of strategies that can be used to minimise the obesity epidemic. Community prevention programs, analysis of school lunch programs and public service engagements must be utilized to spread the word and discourage unhealthy eating habits. Those who question the legitimacy of childhood obesity in Australia cite that it’s not pervasive issue that requires the intervention of the government. Many believe the problem is being exaggerated, but the studies point to a growing trend that is left unchecked will only continue to rise. Many that do recognize the growing trend of obesity question whether obesity actually has the negative health effects attributed to obesity. Still others recognize the problem, but believe that a highly directed approach that works to identify and isolate only the most serious eating disorders should be emphasized.
The Monitoring System in Australia
The tools and resources available for monitoring children in Australia is limited, but the data available still point to a very strong trend towards an increase in overweight and obese children spanning the last 20 years. One in four schoolchildren are not considered overweight or obese. These are numbers that many experts argue are too large to ignore.
Critics state that the differentiation between an overweight child and an obese child is a critical point, and they believe there is too much emphasis placed on overweight children. They believe that the rates of actual childhood obesity are leveling out and take this as a sign that no intervention is needed. However, this ignores the fact that 6 to 8 percent of Australian children are impacted by this quality of life issue. This means that more than 260,000 schoolchildren are considered at risk of having severe health and physical consequences due to their weight.
Many believe that a 1.8 percent increase in obesity over the past five years is not significant. However, this equates to 65,000 children, which is not a number that is too small to ignore. When you break down the overweight and obesity trends by age, nearly 15 percent of children aged 5 to 9 are considered overweight. About 7 percent of children aged 5 to 9 are considered obese. The numbers continue to rise slightly based on age, with 15 to 17 year olds exhibiting approximately 17 percent of individuals classified as overweight and 16 percent classified as obese.
Most importantly, it’s the children who are in the highest 1st quintile of socio-economic status that are the most obese. Families with means tend to have lower rates of obesity, presumably do to better education about nutrition, food options and resources to purchase healthy foods. Fast food is a simple and inexpensive way to feed an entire family. When you consider the cost of food preparation, time and lack of resources to produce healthy meals, those at a lower socio-economic status are at a disadvantage.
The healthiest children are found in the major cities, and children living in major cities reflect a 7.3 percent obesity rating. Those living in outer regional and remote areas tend to have a slightly higher obesity for boys with a rating at 11.4 percent. Girls exhibit a 15.6 percent obesity rate in outer regional and remote areas. Inner regional areas show a rate of 15.1 percent for boys and 11.4 percent for girls. Based on this data, it’s apparent that children growing up in cities likely have better access to cheap, affordable food and better resources to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Deciding How Prevention Efforts Should Be Directed
Focusing on only the children that are high-risk isn’t enough to combat the issue of obesity. By only focusing on those at the highest risk, it doesn’t solve the problem of the issue escalating in those who are at medium risk. Additionally, healthy eating programs tend to fail unless the entire community is involved and understands the importance of healthy eating.
Focusing only on the most obese doesn’t do enough to prevent chronic diseases, which puts a strain on healthcare systems and costs the country millions in unnecessary medical costs each year. The greatest contributions to the overall disease burden comes from those who are at low to moderate risk. A comprehensive approach to prevention must be used that includes broad-reaching programs that aim to reduce the overall level of overweight and obese children. This can help reach those who are borderline, improve the overall health of the country and save money in the long run by creating a healthy, thriving population.
Simple Interventions Garner Effective Results
A report by VicHealth has noted that positive parental involvement can have a great indicator of the health and wellness of children. This 7-year study concludes that children who grow up in homes that foster cooking and physical activity grow up to be much healthier. It seems that by participating in the act of cooking, a healthier view towards food and eating is cultivated. Eating as a family also played a crucial role in healthy eating habits. Community programs that support the intention for families to cook and eat together can have a prolonged impact on the mental, physical and emotional health of communities. Additionally, simple remedies such as limiting screen time can have a dramatic effect on obesity levels. Children subjected to two hours or more of daily screen time had a greater likelihood of being overweight or obese.
Support for Population-Wide Obesity Prevention
There is a severe lack of past investing in community-based strategies designed to reduce and combat obesity. Because of this, it can’t be said for certain whether a population-wide program provides enough benefit to merit the costs. However, overseas studies have shown that there are promising strategies that can be used to make obesity prevention a cost-effective measure that benefits the population.
One issue that is often disregarded is the public perception of how thinness affects the obesity issue. By placing too much emphasis on people being thin and not necessarily healthy, there is a tendency to forge unhealthy attitudes towards food. Binge eating and other eating disorders tend to crop up and have negative consequences that can often be just as dramatic as obesity. Children and adolescents are especially aware of how they are perceived, and this makes them vulnerable to the adoption of a negative body image.
A Cochrane review could find no evidence that linked a focus on obesity prevention with an increase in eating disorders. This makes the claim by many who state that placing too much emphasis on food choices will have a negative effect moot. There is no evidence to support a correlation to poor self image and eating disorders with obesity prevention programs. If anything, these sorts of arguments detract from the much needed national debate and serve only to delay community action to support obesity programs.
The cost of ignoring the growing trends of obesity in Australia can have a real impact on children and families that are dealing with the concern on their own. Without the proper resources, lower-income families can’t get the appropriate treatment, education and nutritional help they need to combat this issue on their own. Nutritionists agree that exercise or diet alone are not the answer to the issue of obesity. Both physical and nutritional energy expenditures must be met to address the problem and create a healthy, thriving community.
Conclusion
The issue of obesity is a contentious one that garners extreme emotions and sensational media attention. Current evidence suggests a growing rise in obesity, and the appropriate and responsible course of action is to address this issue head-on. Disordered eating in children is not a sufficient reason to abstain from obesity prevention. Those who suffer from eating disorders often need greater medical intervention, while those who suffer from obesity can often be handled with better nutritional guidance. By fostering better attitudes towards food, it’s possible to address a variety of health concerns and reduce the risk of obesity in Australia.