Obesity in Children and Adolescents in Australia: NHSC Intervention Program

Running head: Healthcare 1
Public Healthcare
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Healthcare 2
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background......................................................................................................................................3
Rationale for the Program................................................................................................................4
Description of program....................................................................................................................4
Values and public health principles.................................................................................................5
Stakeholders.....................................................................................................................................5
Strengths and Limitations of the Program.......................................................................................6
Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Healthcare 3
Obesity in Children and Adolescents in Australia
Introduction
Obesity is a public health matter affecting Australian children and adolescents and is important
in the discipline of public health. School canteens are the most appropriate settings for promoting
healthy eating among children and adolescents because the school occupies most of their time
every day including lunch time. The National Healthy School Canteen (NHSC) Programme is
one of the programs that is being actualized in Australian Schools. This report aims at examining
obesity in school going children and adolescents in Australia, with a particular focus on the
HNSC intervention program. Some of the specific areas covered in this report include the
incidence of obesity in children and teenagers, the rationale for the development of the program,
its description, underlying principles, parties of interest and the strengths and weakness of the
program. For the purposes of this report, school going children and adolescents are those aged 5-
17 years.
Background
Over 27% of children and adolescents aged 5-17 years were found to be obese, 7% were obese,
and 20% overweight but not obese. There were incidences of equal percentages of overweight
and obesity among school going childen (28%) (ABS, 2018). 20% of the children aged between
2 to 4 years were overweight or obese. In other words, 1 out 5 children aged 2-4 years were
obese, with an equal percentage of boys and girls (9%) in that same age bracket being obese
(ABS, 2018). The survey shows that boys were at a higher risk (29%) of becoming overweight
and not obese at the age of 16-17 years, whereas girls aged 8-11 years were less likely to become
overweight. The high incidence of obesity was reported at 8% among youths aged 16-17 years
for boys and 12% for girls aged 5-7 years.
Obesity is affected by an elaborate association between individual, ecological, and social factors.
The determinants of obesity in school going children include food and nutrition, physical
exercise, and obesogenic environment. 10% of Australia’s total burden of disease was caused by
nutritional risk factors, with a diet low in fruits and vegetables being reported ate 2.0% and 1.4%
of the overall disease burden (AIHW, 2016, 2017). High consumption of energy obtained from
beverages and drinks lead to excessive energy intake and increase in body mass. These foods