Nutrition Society and Public Health Report 2022

Running head: NUTRITION, SOCIETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
NUTRITION, SOCIETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
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1NUTRITION, SOCIETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Executive Summary
Childhood obesity continues to be a global public health issue with high rates observed in
Australia across both Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal populations. The following report aimed to
shed light on the issue of childhood obesity in Australia, including key definitions, its criteria for
diagnosis, prevalent causes of the issue, long term implications of obesity on children’s health,
possible factors which may influence occurrence of childhood obesity and a public health
initiative to combat the same across Indigenous children in Australia. While impressive public
health initiatives exist, there is a need to target socioeconomic factors, remote residence, cultural
perceptions and healthcare accessibility and affordability issues to optimally eradicate childhood
obesity among Indigenous Australian children

2NUTRITION, SOCIETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Discussion............................................................................................................................2
Definitions.......................................................................................................................2
Diagnosis.........................................................................................................................3
Causes..............................................................................................................................3
Long term Implications....................................................................................................4
Influencers.......................................................................................................................4
Public Health Initiatives..................................................................................................5
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................5
References............................................................................................................................7
Appendix............................................................................................................................10

3NUTRITION, SOCIETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduction
The incidence of childhood obesity across Australian children, especially those belonging
toAboriginal and Torre Strait Islander communities is escalating at an alarming rate (Dyer et al.,
2018).The following report will aim to discuss the issue of childhood obesity in Australia in
general and Indigenous children in particular.
Discussion
Definitions
Approximately 41 million children under the age of 5 were found to be suffering from
obesity and the overweight during the year 2016. Additionally, 340 million children as well as
adolescents belonging to the age group of 5 to 19 years were also found to be inflicted with
overweight and obesity in 2016 (World Health Organization, 2018). Approximately 24.9% of
Australian children within the ages 5 to 17 years have been found to be either obese or
overweight (Department of Health, 2019). Further according to the Australian Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Health Survey performed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2012-
2013, approximately a third of Indigenous Australian children within the ages g of 2 to 14 years
were estimated to be either overweight (20%) and obese (10%) respectively (Australian Bureau
of Statistics, 2019).
According to the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, childhood overweight and
obesity can be implied as a state of health where children possess a weight for height greater than
the 90th percentile as per the growth charts formulated by the National Centre for Health