 Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
There is a fundamental difference of perspective between governments which rely on the individual to combat social problems and those that believe that a systemic response is required.
Any approach to childhood obesity which focuses on parental responsibility is likely to minimise the power and scope of the preconditions which are fuelling childhood obesity. Weight-related conditions among Australian children are no longer a minority problem.
Australia is today ranked as one of the fattest nations in the developed world. The prevalence of obesity in Australia has more than doubled in the past 20 years. Monash University's School of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences has noted that fourteen million Australians are overweight or obese. More than five million Australians are obese. If weight gain continues at current levels, by 2025, close to 80% of all Australian adults and a third of all children will be overweight or obese.
These statistics have enormous public health implications. Obesity has overtaken smoking as the leading cause of premature death and illness in Australia. On the basis of present trends it is predicted that by the time they reach the age of 20 our children will have a shorter life expectancy than earlier generations simply because of obesity.
Such a widespread problem is the result of major shifts in whole population behaviour. Technological advances have produced communities which are less active. The growth of sedentary forms of work and recreation, centring on computers, has meant that a majority of Australians no longer readily or regularly achieve the optimum amount of physical activity per day. Longer working hours and double income households has seen a growth in consumption of pre-prepared and take-away food, often with higher fat, sugar and salt contents than are recommended for good health. Large commercial conglomerates aggressively market fast food, confectionary and soft drinks to adults and children.
Certain subgroups within Australian society are particularly vulnerable to these influences. Those with less dietary knowledge and less income are particularly at risk. High fat, high sugar fast food is a cheaper source of energy than fruit, vegetables and more expensive cuts of meat.
Public health experts generally recommend that more than an individual response is required to address such a complex of influences contributing to overweight, obesity and ill-health. Professor Rob Moodie, who chaired the national preventive health taskforce from 2008 to 2011, has argued that the type of holistic approach that has been used to combat cigarette smoking is called for to combat obesity.
Professor Moodie has noted that some progress had been made, such as the development of a five-star, front-of-pack labelling system for processed foods. However, he is concerned that governments and the food industry have shied away from other measures more likely to make a difference, such as restrictions on advertising and marketing of junk food to children and pricing and taxation changes to encourage healthier eating.
Removing obese children from their parents or otherwise penalising the parents of obese children is a measure that should be used only in the most extreme of circumstances. There is little to be gained in demonising parents for a problem as general and systemic as Australia's obesity issues.