



Health experts fear child obesity is still on the rise

6-month-old William Reeve sits in a large bariatric wheelchair at the Canberra Hospital. Click for more photos

Obesity in the ACT

Specialist equipment at the Canberra Hospital to deal with obese patients. Photo: Rohan Thomson

The bariatric wheelchair at Canberra Hospital is so vast that six-month-old William Reeve barely takes up one back corner of its base. But, official figures have revealed, by the time he reaches adulthood he stands a better-than-average chance of filling the mobility aid.

One in five girls entering kindergarten in the ACT are classified as overweight and obese and boys are faring little better - about one in eight are above the healthy weight range, ACT Health statistics show.

Since 2005, the territory has been collecting data on the weight and health of children entering formal schooling. The program has an 83 per cent participation rate and growth in preschool obesity has led Louise Baur, a professor of paediatrics and child health at the University of Sydney, to urge state governments to address growing waistlines before children enter classrooms.

''It is clear there has been an increase in combined overweight and obesity in both sexes,'' Professor Baur said. ''It does raise concerns that, at the time of school entry, a high proportion are overweight.''

She said most intervention focused on school-aged children but the problem was occurring much sooner.

''That is where the biggest funding occurs, rather than under five, and we have increasing evidence internationally that this is a problem before kids start school,'' Professor Baur said.

She said children who entered kindergarten overweight were more likely to become obese.

''You run the risk of staying bigger or getting bigger,'' she said. ''Your habits are being set, activity time, TV time, it's becoming established at that time.

''And while it's not impossible to undo, it's harder than if you start with a healthy lifestyle and weight. It's a red flag in kindy - this child is likely to have problems later on.''

Professor Baur said children who were overweight or obese from the ages of two and above visited GPs and paediatricians more frequently, were more likely to be seen at a tertiary hospital and were more likely to be admitted for a long stay in hospital.

''All the while they are not treated for the obesity,'' she said.

But Kirsty Douglas, director of the Academic Unit of General Practice at ACT Health, said that although body-mass index was the best measure of obesity available, it was problematic for children if not considered along with ethnicity.

Professor Douglas said ACT Health was working to improve the screening program to help parents understand how to make healthier choices for their children. But Professor Baur said not enough was being done even after successive taskforces had made sensible recommendations.

Professor Baur said that the government had to intervene to make it easier for parents by planning safe play areas in new suburbs, improving food labelling and outlawing the unhealthy food advertising aimed at children.

''There is sophisticated marketing of unhealthy food to kids from fast food to junk food and soft drinks,'' Professor Baur said.

''It's a significant issue - there needs to be societal change.''

Dr Baur said industry guidelines on advertising to children were not working and food was engineered by some companies to be a blend of sweet and salty, and light enough to turn off the body's natural full point.

''The national taskforce a few years ago was incredible and I would advocate that all those recommendations were implemented, including legislation on food marketing, to children and the issue of clear, coherent food labelling,'' she said.

''Self-regulation on food marketing to children I do not believe is working - you only have to ask parents.''

15 comments so far

  • Governments are more concerned about the aging population than the obesity problem, let's have some stats on people over 70 who are obese, most don't live that long, cancer, diabetes and heart disease kick into before then.

    Date and time
    April 29, 2014, 6:51AM
    • So the obesity problem solves the aging problem, perfect, doughnuts all round!

      Date and time
      April 29, 2014, 7:16AM
    • Govt's spend billions on building stadiums for AFL, League and Union yet bugger all for school and community sports and health education.

      Date and time
      April 29, 2014, 7:49AM

    Indeed, there is. But what worries me the most about that is the fact that our government does nothing about the low-life, greedy, faceless corporations that do it. Soft drinks and sweets are all just sugar; sugar sold in 27 assorted flavours and colours, but just sugar nonetheless. And don't get me started on the lumps of congealed lard that pass as fast 'food', either...

    The cheapness, wide availability, and the huge marketing push to consume it are the reasons that so much garbage touted as edible exists today and why so many children (and gullible adults) are so damned obese.

    Fast 'food' - in all its forms - should be banned. And, no, arguments that, "I just eat it ocassionally" or "It's OK as part of a healthy diet" are just nonsense; these products do no one any good at all and should not, in any way, shape, or form be any part of any diet whatsoever: If you believe that they have a place in your diet, then you are one of those who have fallen under the marketer's spell too.

    Date and time
    April 29, 2014, 7:57AM


      Hang on, what are the parents of these children doing? Why can't they follow Eleanor Roosevelt and "just say no"?

      In the library
      Date and time
      April 29, 2014, 8:57AM
    • But, but I like the taste of some of the fast food. I'm also very fit, have a BMI in the lower end of normal and have little body fat. Oh sorry, I should not question your awe-inspiring powers of determining what is fast food and what is not. Your powers of taste are divine and should not be questioned.

      Never mind the science that shows that the basic building blocks that make up food with it's proteins, fats and carbohydrates are present in all food regardless whether you classfy it in your own judgement as fast food or not. Never mind the fact that once you break it down to that level, moderation in intake is what matters therefore you can have fast food in a healthy diet if treated in moderation. I rather your black and white world of grey areas.

      Also never mind the fact that it is shown time and time again it is prosperity of a society and the easy availabilty of all food that is more likely correlated with whether obesity levels rise in a population. Lynch mobs are much more palatable, pardon the pun.

      Date and time
      April 29, 2014, 10:05AM
    • @Nein Skinny and even fit doesn't mean healthy. Many fit skinny people have died during exercise from undiagnosed heart conditions. Junk food is exactly that. Humans do only two things. Create or deteriorate. If you give your body rubbish ingredients it deteriorates. Simple as that. Of course fast food tastes great. Why else would people fall into their trap? I know really smart people that eat rubbish. Funny isn't it that humans like to think they are the superior intelligence on the planet and yet they don't even know what their food should be. Something as basic as that. First instinct.

      Common Sense
      Date and time
      April 29, 2014, 11:58AM
    • @ Cal - The parents are brainwashed, just like their children. And Nein!

      @ Nein! - I am very fit, I have a low BMI I LIKE THE TASTE of fast food...Oh, goodness, you can't even begin to fathom the problem becausae you are blinkered to reality, aren't you...?

      Date and time
      April 29, 2014, 12:49PM
  • I am opposed to introducing laws that ban junk food advertising aimed at children. Kids of that age can't buy food unless their parents give them money, so how about we make sure that parents are able to say no? Let's not blame the companies trying to sell a product, let's blame the people who actually buy it.

    Also, tarring all overweight children with the same brush is wildly unfair. I know it is only one example, but my brother was born chubby and remained roughly spherical until he hit puberty, despite eating relatively healthily and playing a variety of sports year round. When he was about 13-14, he suddenly shot up to over 6ft, and everything stretched. He now has a BMI of 21 and is well and truly in the fit and healthy bracket - not that that stopped people from judging my mum when he was growing up, even though he was healthy. Some people are just geared that way, and it balances out as they grow. Why should all children (and their parents) be judged on how they look at age 4 or 6?

    Date and time
    April 29, 2014, 8:45AM
    • Standing up to this problem involves standing up to the biggest problem in politics...lobbyists. Don't fool yourself for a second the government will do anything meaningful about this.

      Date and time
      April 29, 2014, 9:05AM

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