Inequity in Childhood Obesity: Indigenous vs Non-Indigenous Australians

Running head: HEALTHCARE
Topic: HEALTHCARE
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HEALTHCARE1
Two different reasons for inequity between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous
Australians in relation to childhood obesity –
Two major problems which has been considered to be important for the emergence of
inequity between the indigenous as well as non-indigenous people with the persisting
problem of childhood obesity are low nutrition of the aboriginal people and lower
socioeconomic status (Renzaho et al. 2016).
Over the years there has been an increased limitation of the nutritional value of foods
received by the aboriginal states than the original states. The nutritional status inclusive of the
Aboriginal as well as Torres islander people has been influenced by various factors like the
disadvantage pertaining to socioeconomic factors, environmental, geographical as well as
other social factors (Anderson et al. 2016). Poor nutrition is usually inclusive of the concept
of malnutrition as well as under nutrition and has been considered as an important factor
which would contribute to diseases like obesity and overweight, cardiovascular diseases,
type two diabetes as well as tooth decay. The current limited nutritional quality has been a
marker contrast to the life prior to the European settlement in Australia. At that time it has
been found that Aboriginal as well as Torres islander people have been healthy as well as
enjoyed varied traditional diets which have been usually low in energy density and
simultaneously rich in nutrients (Stoneham et al. 2014).
In Australia the main reason for the increased symptoms of childhood obesity
especially in the indigenous people has been due to the socioeconomic advantage compared
to the aboriginal people (Sephard et al. 2016). In Australia, the traditional lifestyles have been
disrupted by colonization along with cultures among the islander and Torres people and this
has created negative repercussions on the total wellbeing of the people including the
socioeconomic disadvantage of the people. One of the important factors affecting the health

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of children include lack of parental concern regarding the disorder among the general
Australian population and the increased frequency of parental concern regarding the weight
as well as eating habits (Kaspar 2014). Low socioeconomic status has been found to be
associated with poor health and high rates of substance use. Thus the non-indigenous people
would generally suffer from obesity. There are various health risk factors where there is
coexistence as well as combination of the risk factors which have a serious impact of health
in various different ways. Information from the National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander
Social Survey (NATSISS), unemployed aboriginal people have been found to be more
influenced by substance use (Thomas et al. 2015). Thus there would be another strong
relationship between the various exposures to the health factor sand various risk factors. Over
the years, there has been increasing rates of excess weight as well as obesity which is almost
22.4% in the aboriginal children as compared to the lower percentage of aboriginal children
(Nicholson et al. 2015). Moreover, the waist- height ratio have indicated greater lifetime risk
of the chronic diseases. Thus the percentage of children being affected by obesity have been
more than 30 % among aboriginal children (Denision et al. 2016).
Provision of one example of a Primary Health Care intervention that is addressing
childhood obesity for Indigenous Australians with the intention of closing the gap.
Explanation of the impact of intervention on reducing inequity-
The main primary health care intervention would be introduction of the strategies for
including physical activities among children of the aboriginal communities. In Australia,
almost 70% of the health inequities are caused by childhood obesity related cases (Panaretto
et al. 2014). The main aim of primary health care intervention and provision of partnerships
is the removal of barriers and the built up of evidence which has been gathered around for the
improvement of health as well as overall wellbeing of the aboriginal and Torres islander