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Boredom warning: If facts and figures are not your thing, you might like to jump straight to the ‘how to’ parts of this website – getting active and healthy eating. But if you want some useful background information so you’ll be able to take more effective action, read on.
Australian kids are not as healthy as they should be. Many of them are putting on excess weight and not losing it as they get older.
In exact terms, from 1985 to 1995 the level more than doubled for overweight (mildly above healthy weight) and obesity (considerably above health weight) combined. In the same period the level of obesity on its own tripled in all age groups and for both sexes. And we’re not alone: over the last 20 years, rates of overweight and obesity in children have risen greatly in many countries around the world.
Obese children have a 25–50% chance of being obese as adults, and this chance may increase to around 75% for obese adolescents.
Kids’ eating and activity habits
Many kids are not eating enough fruit and vegetables for general bodily health, and not enough diary products for sufficient calcium intake. Skipping breakfast is common, which leads to snacking on high-fat and high-sugar foods later in the day.
On a positive note, recent research conducted in NSW schools shows that kids are more physically active today than they were in 1997. This is good news but the research also shows that levels of inactivity – with the temptation to blob in front of the TV or computer – are also increasing, which isn't good.
The heart of the problem is energy balance: if children take in more energy through food than they burn through activity, they will put on weight. The solution is to balance what we eat with how much we do. This is something that families must look at, but also something for schools and childcare centres to consider.
Metabolic processes
Detailed information about types of metabolism, factors affecting it and how much energy is used when doing a range of activities (Go for Your Life, Victoria)
