childhood obesity

the 'global epidemic'

Over the last 20 years, rates of childhood obesity have risen significantly in many countries around the world, leading many researchers and commentators to talk of the “global epidemic of childhood obesity”.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that around 22 million children aged under 5 are overweight worldwide. 

Unfortunately, Australia is not immune to this trend.  According to the NSW Childhood Obesity Summit held in 2002, the level of combined overweight/obese Australian children more than doubled between 1985 and 1995, while the level of obesity tripled in all age groups and for both sexes. What really concerns many health experts is that the rate of increase appears to be accelerating. Around 30% of Australian children are overweight or obese. That's a statistic that really worries us too.

Most health and medical experts believe the nutritional value of food consumed is a leading cause of obesity in children. So what causes obesity?  Basically, the direct cause of obesity is an energy imbalance – food intake exceeds what a person can burn off. Now we all burn off energy during the course of our day, and some burn off more if they also exercise.  Physical activity is simply one side of the equation. 

We believe it's more important to see what's happening on the other side of the equation - what we're eating. That's because the more energy-dense food we eat, and most junk food is high in kilojoules, the more we have to burn off through physical activity. If our kids don't burn off enough then they'll start to store up excess energy as fat.  Problem is that most kids just don't have enough hours in the day to burn off the junk food they eat. Even for an average adult, burning off a serve of large fries from a well-known fast food outlet would mean doing a steady jog for around 6 kilometres. And that's not even taking into account the hamburger and large soft drink to go with it!          

According to the Government of Victoria, "from 1985 to 1995...there has been a huge increase in children’s consumption of energy-dense foods, such as:

• Cakes and biscuits (46 per cent increase)
• Soft drinks (30–50 per cent increase)
• Confectionary (40–56 per cent increase)
• Sugar products and dishes (60–136 per cent increase)".

Thankfully, more and more parents and schools are questioning the nutritional benefits of the food their children currently eat at home, from take away outlets, and from school canteens. Interestingly, a recent survey by the Parents Jury found that 73% of parents would allow their children to buy food and drinks from canteens if the menu only had healthy options. Now that's a statistic we really like!   

But we need to be on the ball in tackling obesity right now, because research suggests there's a time lag between the onset of obesity and related health disorders, indicating that health problems are being stored for the future. Worringly, the WHO estimates that around 1 billion adults in the world are overweight, and at least 300 million are clinically obese. That's why it's so important, and so urgent, to address this long-term issue by preventing obesity during childhood.

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