They Say: Childhood Obesity Has Plateaued, But Still Bad

Do you want the good news or the bad news? The good news is that, despite constant hysterical media, the rates of childhood obesity don’t seem to be rising. In fact, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures show the prevalence of overweight children attending general practice didn’t change in the decade to 2008.

The bad news? Twenty eight per cent of children presenting to GPs are still overweight or obese.

The AIHW report, General Practice in Australia, states that these figures are far too high.

“It is very important to recognise that based on all recent Australian data, the levels of overweight/obesity in children are unacceptably high, and present a major public health problem that needs to be tackled,” the report says.

The problem worsens the older children get. In research published in yesterday’s Medical Journal of Australia, West Australian researchers including Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley found nearly a third of the children in that study were unhealthy due to their weight, diet and lack of exercise.

They found 29 per cent of 14-year-olds and 25 per cent of eight-year-olds were in a “high-risk cluster” for future health problems such as heart disease, diabetes or stroke.

What all this means is that Healthy Harold and other public health initiatives are only just holding the balance, they’re not actively bringing rates down.

So what else do we need to try? Politicians have suggested bans on junk food advertising or taxing unhealthy food more highly. Other proposals include providing subsidised exercise equipment or gym memberships to families.

What would you do?