Puppy fat not so cute

Our kids are getting fatter and it's making them sick.

Editorial comment in the most recent edition of the Medical Journal of Australia suggests that 23 per cent of Australian children are overweight or obese, with 6 per cent of these children being obese. This figure is increasing and it's causing major health issues for the children concerned.

Inequalities in levels of obesity are present, linked to parents' background and to maternal education, and one Victorian study has found a higher proportion of overweight and obese boys in city areas. In the United States obesity carries more social stigma than any physical disability across all socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

Obesity can affect a child's sense of social and psychological wellbeing and lead to decreased self esteem. The authors of the editorial, Dr Elizabeth Waters, Director, Research and Public Health Unit, Centre for Community Child Health Melbourne, and Associate Professor Louise Baur, Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, say that "obese children and adolescents may also have a range of medical conditions".

These include high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, diseases usually associated with people later in life.

"Obesity is caused by an energy imbalance - too much of the wrong food and not enough physical activity.

"Our kids are eating less fruit and vegetables and they spend more time in front of the television and playing computer games.

"Families (parents and grandparents) and schools have a major role to play, encouraging healthy eating choices and more physical activity.

"But recent research shows that a change in attitude must come from all generations and health promotion messages must target the whole population.

"Some changes are beyond the power of individual families, such as the regulation of marketing of unhealthy food, access to safe, cheap public transport, and urban planning initiatives that give priority to child friendly and pedestrian friendly environments.

Health practitioners working in the community, child and family nurses and general practitioners are crucial to any comprehensive strategies to overcome the overweight epidemic.

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.

CONTACT: Dr Elizabeth Waters, 0408 573 966

Judith Tokley, AMA, 0408 824 306