Childhood Obesity In Australia

has been found that 10% of the factors of childhood obesity is due to diets being very low in fruits and vegetables (AIHW 2016c, 2017). The large intake of foods that provide no nutritional value, namely fast food and sugary drinks encourage children’s diets to exceed requirements leading to weight gain (NHMRC, 2013a). Physical activity also helps to keep children fit and healthy however with the introduction of so much technology, kids are preferring to sit on their phones during lunch then go kick the soccer ball. Kids are also interacting with other kids at school and their mindset is being influenced by these settings. When other kids are overweight, it slowly becomes the norm for a child’s weight to be more than what it should be. Kids

This is why it is so established that those living in rural communities have lower standards of health than those in urban populations. Healthy food is harder to access and more expensive. In 2004-2005 nearly a quarter of Aboriginal and Torrens Strait Islander’s said they ran out of food in the last 12 months. This is compared with only 5% of non-indigenous Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008). Aboriginals have also reported that they frequently run out of food but can’t afford to purchase more (Adams, 2006). The high food costs and poor access to healthy foods versus easy access to convenience shops with junk food, creates a large barrier to adequate nutrition. Coupled with poor knowledge about healthy eating, less health care services in regional areas, food insecurity can lead to obesity (Burns,

Children that are born into households with a higher income have better health from the very beginning and this relationship between factors becomes even more pronounced as they get older (Case et al. 2002). Thus, the combination of a lower income and higher priced foods in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities could not be a fruitful outcome.

Many communities also just have one shop and foods have to be flow in so the lack of competition means that shops and drive up their prices (Koori Mail). It comes as no surprise that the trend is for parents to buy the cheaper alternatives for children, leading to them becoming overweight and eventually