Nutrition and Society of the Aboriginal People

Running head: NUTRITION AND SOCIETY OF THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
NUTRITION AND SOCIETY OF THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
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NUTRITION AND SOCIETY OF THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
Nutrition and Society
The Australian population of choice for this paper is the aboriginals and the Torre strait
Islanders people. The nutritional status of the indigenous Australians is greatly affected by the
geographical and the socioeconomic disadvantages. Poor nutrition among the indigenous
Australians is quite common risk factors for the aboriginals (Liu et al., 2012). This report aims to
discuss about the nutritional status of the indigenous Australians are greatly affected by the
geographical and the socioeconomic disadvantages. Poor nutrition among the indigenous
Australians is quite common risk factors for the aboriginals.
Childhood obesity
Child hood obesity can be defined as a clinical condition that affects the children and the
teenagers. It occurs when there is an excess accumulation of fat in the body. Whenever children
overshot that healthy weight trajectory, their weight becomes disproportionate to their height. If
obesity in the childhood is kept unchecked then it would finally lead to adult obesity (Liu et al.,
2012).
Causes of childhood obesity
Obesity in children can occur due to a number of factors like behavioral, biological, social,
psychological technical, environmental, economic and cultural factors (Gurnani et al., 2015).
Some of the common causes are lack of physical activities, unhealthy diets, genetic and
environmental factors (Liu et al., 2012). Although the culture and the trends of the aboriginal

NUTRITION AND SOCIETY OF THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
communities are quite different from that of the rest of the Australia, yet the societal trend have
greatly altered the nature of the play and the way children react to the environment.
As per the 2012-2013 health survey of Australia, that included the height and the weight
measurement, about 66% of the indigenous Australians aged 15 years have a high BMI score in
the obese range (37 % obese and 29 % overweight) ("Impact of overweight and obesity as a risk
factor for ...", 2018). Child hood obesity among the indigenous Australians varied
geographically. In the regional areas the obesity is as high as 40 % and the lowest in the very
remote areas.
Long term health implications
Some of the health risks for an obese child are high blood pressure, cholesterol (Pulgarón,
2013). Obese children are likely to develop cardiovascular problems, increased rate of impaired
glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance when they grow into adults. Breathing
problems like asthma and sleep apnea can also occur (Pulgarón, 2013).
Influencers of childhood obesity
Diet and life style
In the national health surveys consumption of fruits and vegetables were found to be lower
among the Indigenous Australians aged between 12 years (Valery et al., 2012). The Torres Strait
islanders were renowned to be high consumers of sea food. A particular concern is their daily
consumption of the sweetened snacks and high energy drinks (Schultz, 2012). Overweight