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March 25, 2019

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More than one in four Aussie kids are overweight or obese: we’re failing them, and we need a plan.

Alessandro Demaio addressed the National Press Club today, alongside Karen Carey (former chair of the Consumers Health Forum) and Stephen Duckett (head of the Health Program at the Grattan Institute), to outline the key health issues ahead of the 2019 federal election. This is an edited transcript of Alessandro Demaio’s speech.


The year is 1980, and a small number of vulnerable Australian children begin to show early signs of a quiet but dangerous disease. Affecting their kidneys, their hearts and even their brains, this disease has known causes – and solutions. But little or nothing is done and it doesn’t even make the headlines.

Jump forward to 1995, the disease is spreading. From just a handful of children in every hundred, this condition is now affecting one in five. Driven by a lack of opportunity and heavily concentrated in our poorest communities, the burden sees a steep rise in type 2 diabetes and other serious complications.

This is a disease that soon sees young people developing illnesses previously thought of as older age ailments. And it’s one that singles out Indigenous kids, rural and remote kids, and poorer kids. In fact by 2013, nearly one in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian children and adolescents are affected.




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Jump forward to 2011, and we have now allowed one in four children across Australia to be affected by this chronic condition. We have stood back for so long that 25% of our kids are now living with daily discrimination and long-term, often irreversible health challenges.

We don’t know the exact number of children affected by this serious health challenge today, but we know it has surpassed 25%.

What is truly irresponsible is that we don’t even have a clear plan for addressing this rising epidemic now affecting hundreds of thousands of Aussie kids.

The condition is excess weight, and obesity.

If this were any other serious, debilitating, rapidly rising health challenge, we would be calling a national emergency. We would be rallying the troops and putting every resource possible into finding a solution.

We have solutions available that are costed, proven, and endorsed by the highest global health agencies, including the United Nations. We now need to implement them.




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Other nations have stepped up

Research shows advertising increases the consumption of junk foods and drinks, even in children as young as two.

England is banning all junk food advertising on the London transport system and implementing strict rules on children’s TV.

Chile has banned the use of cartoon characters on junk foods, including sugary cereals that can contain more than the recommended daily sugar intake in a single serve. Cartoons attract young minds and incentivise nagging for already busy parents.



When kids see junk food advertised on TV, they want it.
From shutterstock.com

Meanwhile in Australia, our governments continue to allow some of the highest levels of junk food advertising during children’s TV programming in the world. Some 44% of food advertisements seen by kids are for unhealthy foods. And despite whatever industry will tell you, between 2011 and 2015 no reduction was seen in the rate of unhealthy food advertising.

Chile is implementing mandatory and clear front-of-pack labels that make it easy for young consumers to understand what is and isn’t healthy. This has cut the likelihood of people choosing sugary breakfast cereals by 11% and sugary juices by almost 24%.

Peru and Uruguay are following.

Ecuador has clear “traffic light” labels indicating sugar, salt and fat content in products.




Read more:
Broad range of prevention efforts need to target obesity in children


These countries have a plan. Here in Australia we continue to argue about a voluntary system that experts agree is a good start but too weak, and all while we attack the public health sector for their efforts.

We continue to insult every parent and young child by projecting an untruthful dogma that child obesity should be blamed on poor choices or poor parenting.

This ignores the fact that junk-food outlets disproportionately saturate poorer neighbourhoods, or that one of the strongest predictors of dying early from weight-related chronic disease is your postcode.

We need to tax sugary drinks

At latest count, at least 49 countries now have a form of tax on sugar-sweetened beverages – or junk drinks. Evidence from the World Health Organisation clearly shows we need to reduce kids’ sugar consumption. It is linked with type 2 diabetes, which in turn is linked to early death and decades of suffering. It is also a major contributor to missing school, through dental illness.

Increasing the price of sugary drinks protects public health.

And while some will tell you such a tax will bankrupt farmers, leaders like Professor Stephen Duckett from the Grattan Institute have shown this is not the case.

Others will tell you a tax will hit the poorest hardest, but this is untrue too. The poorest households in Australia generally consume the highest amounts of sugary drinks and suffer from the greatest burden of costly, diet-related diseases like diabetes and heart disease. They have the most to gain.



Obesity among children in Australia is a much bigger problem than it used to be.
From shutterstock.com

Evidence from Mexico suggests just that. The poorest communities consumed almost 20% fewer sugary drinks as a result of the increase in price within two years of the change.

In Philadelphia, the much-needed income from a small price increase in soft drinks was used to subsidise physical activity programs for kids, and childcare for families.




Read more:
Lessons for Australia from US reversal of childhood obesity


Here in Australia, false facts and conflicts of interest drive futile discussions that result in continued inaction.

Our health minister makes proud announcements hand in hand with industry, while those same industry players are shown to be funding fake research and manipulating both national governments and United Nations agencies.

Meanwhile, junk food fuels two in three adults being overweight, and these overweight adults are malnourished in key nutrients.

Why invest in prevention?

Australia’s government spends less than about $0.02 of every health dollar on prevention each year. This equates to A$89 per person – considerably less than Canada or New Zealand.

Meanwhile, the economic burden of treating obesity-related diseases is estimated to rise from A$12 billion in 2014 to A$21 billion in 2025.

In other words, for every dollar we are spending on prevention, we’ll soon be losing A$10 for our lack of action on obesity.




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Even if obesity were a disease, exercise may be too bitter a pill


For decades our governments have sat back and allowed a preventable epidemic. Adult-onset diabetes is being renamed as it now affects younger and younger members of our community. Bowel cancer is becoming more common in adolescents. And fatty liver disease, once almost unheard of in children, is now increasing.

The longer we wait, the longer we go without a plan, the longer we fail to invest in prevention, the longer our kids suffer needlessly. For the health of Aussie kids and our nation, we need a comprehensive plan for prevention.The Conversation

Alessandro R Demaio, Australian Medical Doctor; Fellow in Global Health & NCDs, University of Copenhagen

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • I am quite in control of what my children eat but I would not deny them a treat ever once and a while.

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  • Shouldn’t this be the parents responsibility? There’s enough info out there now to make parents aware of the importance of a healthy diet and regular physical activity. That’s not up to the government in my opinion

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  • I believe it is the parents job not government or shops etc but in saying that I see kids at maccas most afternoons (I mean I recognize the same kids every afternoon) so in that case the parents may need some help.

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  • It is the parents responsibilities not the government so yeah but I guess the government can give parents a helping hand.

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  • it shouldn’t be on the governments – it comes down to the families to make the right choices for their kids.

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  • I think it’s blamed on both sides.
    People trying to budget n eat healthy but it’s not easy to budget if the government put prices on healthy food too high but we tend to let our kids play on electronics because it’s easy to deal with the child. Too many advertising on unhealthy foods on tv.

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  • Don’t think it’s the governments fault.

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  • I know of one who was slim who injured his knee and had to have major knee surgery. He did his physiotherapy and exercised every day as instructed and gained weight. He went on a strict diet set by a dietician and still gained weight. They got rid of banned food from their house and they didn’t eat out at all. He started getting ulcers on his legs and feet and was admitted to hospital. He was then put on a different diet. The Nurses were checking that visitors were not taking in food or drinks. Unfortunately the problem took his life.

    Reply

  • Ho exactly is this the government failing our kids??!! What I see is parents failing our kids. There’s enough information out there about our food and what’s in it, you would have to live under a rock to not know the good from the bad. As for kids not being active, that too is surely a parental responsibility. We are the biggest role models for our kids, it’s up to us to get them eating healthy and getting them active……not the government

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  • We live in a poor area. We are surrounded by obese people. 6 months ago I was obese, I still never fed my children processed food or anything with added sugar. I am now a healthy weight and we still eat home made food every day because what you eat is so important. Changing the labels doesn’t change the fact that processed food is full of nasties. With a little bit of planning and thought you can easily cook your meals from scratch. Slow cookers are $20 and allow you to use cheaper meats. Being poor isn’t an excuse.

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  • Parents should be more responsible instead of just applying or increasing more taxes

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  • Parents need to take responsibility for what their children eat.

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  • Parents should be taking responsibility and not letting children eat so much junk but i do agree that there are certain subsections off the community that may need some better education around childhood nutrition. Also I think a healthy eating program on the school curriculum may be of benefit

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  • Education is required, you can increase the items but the kids will nag and the parents will continue buying.

    Reply

  • Presents need to be educated more on the issue, rather than leaving it up to someone else to deal with. Parents are too quick to put a device in a toddlers hands just to keep them quiet, Which is leading them to become addicted to devices and not getting them outside to play


    • There has to be balance and outside time is so good for everybody in the family – little ones to big ones.

    Reply

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