The facts on Aussie fat
Have you ever heard parents talk about their children and puppy fat? The chances are you would have – but new research shows that parents are not seeing it and children will stay fat.
Professor David Crawford from The Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research in Melbourne says we’d all like to believe that a child who is overweight will eventually grow out of it but the evidence is convincing that this isn’t really the case.
He says the opposite is true.
“Overweight children tend to become overweight adolescents, and overweight adolescents become overweight adults.”
The truth is you probably know several children who are overweight and whose parents dismiss it as a childhood problem they will grow out of.
Is your child overweight?
Few parents will admit their child is overweight.
Professor Crawford says there is a worrying gap between parental perception and the reality of their child’s weight.
Almost nine out of ten parents of overweight 5 to 6-year-olds and about two-thirds of parents of overweight 10 to 12-year-olds were unaware their child was overweight5.
“It’s not that parents don’t care – they just don’t see it. Even many trained health professionals find it hard to recognise when a child’s overweight,”
says Crawford.
As a result, Crawford suggests it’s more useful to focus on encouraging kids to lead a healthy lifestyle than it is to focus on their size.
Central to this approach is learning to recognise the patterns that lead to being overweight.
“Parents should look at how often and how much food their children eat, as well as the kind of foods they eat. If they’re eating a lot of unhealthy snacks between meals, parents should realise there could be an issue,”
says Crawford.
Activity levels are also important. Are they outdoors and active for hours everyday or passively watching TV or playing computer games?
It was once seen as common sense, but now there is good evidence that the more time people spend outdoors, the more likely they are to be active and healthy.
Guide for parents
As the gatekeepers of the family diet, parents have a central role to play in the health and wellbeing of their children. Here are some simple tips.
- Take action now. Don’t delay in the hope that the problem will resolve itself.
- Make time for meals and sit down to eat as a family. They will have better quality diets with more fruit and vegetables and improved nutrient intake.
- Manage portion sizes and the quality of food available. Limit snacks, or food high in saturated fats and sugar. [Hyperlink to Portion Control article on McCain Healthy Choice site]
- Keep the kids busy. Particularly during school holidays – children tend to gain significantly more weight during the summer holidays.6
- Get active as a family. Being active together as a family will help you burn off energy. It can be as simple as a weekend hike.
If you have dismissed your child’s weight gain as puppy fat which they will eventually grow out of, speak to an expert for more information.
- About 25 per cent of Australian children are currently overweight or obese1
- The rate of childhood obesity is climbing faster than among adults in Australia, according to a recent report from the World Health Organisation2
- Between 1985 and 1995 the number of overweight children (7 to 15 year-olds) almost doubled, and figures for obesity more than tripled3,4
Resources
National
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
- Active-ate [http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/healthy/active-ate/index.html]
South Australia
Victoria
Western Australia
