Obesity
About Childhood Obesity | How do I know if I am obese? | What causes Childhood Obesity?About Childhood Obesity
Overweight and obesity is a serious, chronic medical condition, which is associated with a wide range of debilitating and life threatening conditions. Large increases in obesity rates among Australians have the potential to erode many recent health gains.
In 2009, the NSW Population Health Survey showed that 52.5% of the population was classified as overweight or obese. A significantly higher proportion of males (59.5%) than females (45.4%) were overweight or obese.
Rates of childhood overweight and obesity have also been increasing in recent years. NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS) data from 2004 show that 25% of boys and 23.3% of girls in NSW were either overweight or obese. This represents a significant increase over the last decade. 2010 SPANS data will be released shortly.
Childhood obesity is a serious concern because obese children have a greatly increased likelihood of becoming obese adults. Obese adults who were overweight as children also have higher levels of weight-related morbidity, and a higher risk of preventable mortality, than those obese adults who only became obese in adulthood.
How do I know if I am obese?
Doctors and other health care professionals are the best people to determine whether a child or adolescent's weight is healthy, and they can assist in ruling-out rare medical conditions as the cause of unhealthy weight. Doctors and other health professionals also consider a child's age and growth patterns to determine whether his or her weight is healthy.
A Body Mass Index (BMI) is calculated from measurements of height and weight. A child is seen to be obese if his/her BMI exceeds the cut-off point for his/her age. Growth charts, such as weight-for-age and weight-for-height, are also used to determine if children are overweight or obese.
Use the BMI Calculator to work out your Body Mass Index.
For information on Getting Healthy, call the NSW Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service® on 1300 806 258 Monday - Friday 8am - 8pm or visit www.gethealthynsw.com.au.
Find out more about how to keep healthy with the Kids Healthy Food and Activity Guide.
What causes Childhood Obesity?
Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is generally caused by lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of the two, with genetics and lifestyle both playing important roles in determining a child's weight.
Overweight and obesity is related to technological, social, economic and environmental changes that have reduced physical activity and increased food access and passive energy consumption.
Increases in sedentary activities (eg TV, video games), use of the motor car for transport, decreases in physical activity, and an increase in the consumption of high fat and high energy foods are likely to be foremost among the causes of the current epidemic.