Childhood Obesity: Impacts on Aboriginal Children and NSW Population

This report addresses the critical issue of childhood obesity among Aboriginal children in New South Wales (NSW), highlighting that one in three Indigenous children are either obese or overweight, a rate significantly higher than the general NSW childhood obesity rate. The report details the harmful impacts of this high prevalence, including increased risks of adult obesity, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, economic burdens, and reduced productivity. It emphasizes the importance of addressing the issue through action plans, primarily focusing on enabling individuals to choose healthy foods. The proposed strategies include the implementation of the canteen strategy in schools, funding local initiatives to promote healthy food consumption, providing capacity-building training, encouraging fruit and vegetable intake, promoting healthy consumption in children's services, supporting healthy eating in healthcare facilities and social housing, protecting local food production, and implementing food labeling strategies. These initiatives aim to improve dietary choices and foster healthier lifestyles within the Aboriginal communities and the broader NSW population, with the ultimate goal of mitigating the adverse effects of childhood obesity.

Impact of Childhood Obesity on Aboriginal Children, the Community they Live in, and the NSW
Population
1 in 3 Indigenous children in NSW have is obese and overweight. Research reveals that childhood obesity can have harmful impacts on the Aboriginal
children, their community, and the entire NSW population. However, the disorder can be alleviated through action plans for the communities in NSW.
Impacts of the NSW Aboriginal Childhood Obesity
a) Aboriginal Children
There are higher odds of obese children encountering emotional and social side effects, including bullying, poor
social skills, and depression, (Bhadoria et al., 2015).
Childhood obesity among the Aboriginals is linked to the increase in diabetes rates in indigenous children, a
disorder that is approximated to minimize the maximum years to live for a child to 27 years, which keeps
widening (Thurber et al., 2014). Obese children will probably grow and increase adulthood obesity.
b) Aboriginal Community
Thurber et al. (2014) cite that the high burden of the metabolic disorder in the Indigenous individuals can
decrease the average indigenous people’s life expectancy by about a maximum of 3 years, representing nearly 9
percent to 17 percent of the disparity existing between Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous communities.
Childhood obesity leads to adult obesity, which will lead to lost productivity, and an increase in health costs
(Thurber et al., 2014). Lost productivity means individuals may work less to generate revenue because of
obesity-related problems.
c) NSW population
Aboriginal childhood obesity contributes to increased burden of obesity in NSW, which is 24 percent
(representing one in five children) (NSW Government. (2019).
The economic consequences in NSW contributed by obese children were projected by Access Economics as 2.7
billion AUD on economic expenses, as well as production losses, as well as 16.3 billion AUD used as
expenditures in deteriorated health (NSW Government, 2015).
Key Areas for Change to Decrease Impacts of Aboriginals Childhood Obesity
The NSW government’s goa is to decrease childhood obesity by 5 percent over 10 years (to 16.5
percent in 2025). This aim is critical in ensuring associated impacts are also minimized
significantly. Some of the areas that need to change include:
 One key area to focus on is improving maternal and children’s diets, which will help children to
maintain a healthy weight. The socioeconomic disadvantage among Aboriginal families leads
limits them to purchasing unhealthy foods, causing an increase in childhood obesity.
 Another aspect is on the level of community understanding on how to access healthy foods. This
area comprises the literacy levels in the community and life skills. Providing nutrition
programmes, such as nutrition education and counselling on consumption of fresh foods, will
expose the people to critical knowledge that can help them make healthy food choices.
 Another area is about the unhealthy meals Aboriginal communities consume that cause non-
communicable diseases (such as diabetes mellitus and childhood obesity), yet they can be
alleviated during children. These disorders increase morbidity and mortality rates among the
Indigenous people more than the non-Indigenous individual. On the other hand, obesity, which is
related to poor diets, is the cause of increased health inequality among the Indigenous people and
non-Aboriginal people (Al-Yaman, 2017).
Action Planning to Curb Impacts of Obesity in Aboriginal Children in NSW
Action Plan: Enabling individuals to choose healthy foods
The food environment is characterized by the presence of influencing factors of obesity such as food labels and markets that offer highly
processed foods (NSW Department of Health, n.d.). The NSW Government will facilitate the following actions:
• Use the canteen strategy, whereby that the New South Wales Government will ensure change in foods provided in school canteens, and
minimize high-calorie foods as well as increase consumption of fruit besides vegetables.
• The NSW Government will fund local initiatives and food industries to promote healthy food consumption in schools.
• The high schools’ community will receive capacity building training on ensuring canteens sustainably provide fresh foods.
• The NSW primary schools will encourage more intake of fruit and vegetables as well as water.
• All accredited institution-based children’s services in NSW will ensure they promote healthy consumption, involve children in exercises, and
discourage sedentary lifestyles. `
• Staff members in Healthcare facilities across NSW will ensure they consume healthy meals and drinks from responsible food and drinks
suppliers.
• Social housing regions will receive support from government to implement healthy food as well as fresh commodities as part of a community
reviving initiative.
• The government will protect local food production systems and improve accessibility to fresh foods within communities.
• The NSW government will implement food labelling strategies that will encourage selection of healthy foods in the communities.
Conclusion
Relative to the NSW childhood obesity rate, which is one in five children, the Aboriginal children experience the highest rates of childhood
obesity; one in three children being obese or overweight. The impacts of these high rates are linked to higher risks of developing obesity during
adulthood, as well as related metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, economic costs, increased burden of disease, and low productivity. One
area that can be transformed is on human food choice to ensure healthy diets are consumed.
References
Al-Yaman, F. (2017). The Australian burden of disease study: Impact and causes of illness and death in
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2011. Public Health Research & Practice, 27(4).
https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp2741732
Bhadoria, A., Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A., Sufi, N., & Kumar, R. (2015). Childhood obesity: Causes
and consequences. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4(2), 187.
https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.154628
NSW Government. (2015). Overweight and obesity - Healthy eating active living. NSW Health.
Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/heal/Pages/overweight-obesity.aspx
NSW Government. (2019). NSW Childhood Overweight and Obesity: Data Report. HealthStats NSW Report
Home. https://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au/Resources/child-obesity-data-report.pdf
NSW Department of Health. (n.d.). NSW Government Plan for Preventing Overweight and Obesity in
Children, Young People & their Families 2009 - 2011.
https://www.eatmovelive.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/obesity_action_plan1.pdf
Thurber, K. A., Joshy, G., Korda, R., Eades, S. J., Wade, V., Bambrick, H., Liu, B., & Banks, E. (2018). Obesity
and its association with sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and health status among Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal adults in New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health, 72(6), 491-498. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2017-210064
Thurber, K., Boxall, A., & Partel, K. (2014). Overweight and obesity among Indigenous children: individual
and social determinants. Deep Institute Issues Brief.
https://doi.org/10.1787/888933280866https://ahha.asn.au/system/files/docs/publications/deeble_issue_b
rief_no_3_overweight_and_obesity_among_indigenous_children.pdf