Prevention of Childhood Obesity in Australia: A Report

This report addresses the critical issue of obesity prevention among children and young people in Australia. It highlights the alarming statistics, with over 24% of children aged 5-17 being overweight or obese. The report emphasizes the need for a national-level plan, involving various health departments and local health professionals. Community engagement is deemed crucial, particularly in rural and indigenous areas, where poor diets and lack of healthcare access contribute to the problem. The report suggests healthcare programs that incorporate exercise and yoga, alongside education on healthy eating habits. Key stakeholders, including the government, national health organizations, community members, and children, are identified as essential participants in obesity prevention initiatives. The conclusion underscores the importance of focusing on rural areas and leveraging community involvement and healthcare professionals to spread awareness and knowledge about obesity prevention. The report references several studies and resources to support its findings and recommendations.

Running Head: Prevention of Obesity
Prevention of Obesity
Essay
System04104
8/12/2019

Prevention of Obesity
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Prevention of Obesity in Children and Young People in Australia
Obesity is the most common problem in children and young people in Australia.
According to a research conducted by National Health Survey (Australia), more than 67% of
adult people are facing health issues related to obesity. 24.9% of children aged between 5 to
17 years were overweight or facing obesity issue in 2017-18 (The Department of Health
Australia, 2018). It is really important for the Australian government to prepare a national
level planning to prevent obesity in children and young people in the country. To prepare a
planning for preventing the Obesity the Australian government should involve different
health departments of Australia and local health professional to make the plan (WHO, 2012).
Apart from this, the local health practitioners should also involve the community people for
active participation in the dietary plan to prevent the obesity in the youngsters and children.
The role of community people is crucial in implementing and executing the planning related
to obesity as they can spread the awareness and knowledge about obesity among the
community people (AlMarzooqi & Nagy, 2011). It has been seen that most of the obesity
cases were found in the rural and indigenous area of Australia. In indigenous area, the poor
diet and unavailability of proper healthcare services are the common cause that affects the
health of people and leads to the obesity in people. The local healthcare organisation can
educate people about the advantage of proper diet/meals for the body. However, the local
indigenous people can participate in various healthcare programs to reduce the obesity
(Eisenmann, Gentile, Welk, Callahan, Strickland, Walsh, & Walsh, 2008). The healthcare
program must be included exercise and yoga related activities that are helpful in preventing
the obesity in young people. The active participation of community people in the healthcare
awareness program can educate the people that how they can use healthy eating habits to
avoid the risk of obesity. The major stakeholders in the obesity programs are government,
national health organisations, community people, children, etc. They all need to participate in
the obesity prevention programs of the government. They also have responsibility to care
about the health of other community people and aware them about the obesity issues and how
they can prevent it. In conclusion, it can be said that to prevent the obesity in Australia, the
government should mainly focuses on rural areas and involve the local community people
and healthcare professionals to spread knowledge and awareness among people to prevent the
obesity in children and young people.

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References
AlMarzooqi, M. A., & Nagy, M. C. (2011). Childhood obesity intervention programs: a
systematic review. Life Science Journal, 8(4), 45-60.
Eisenmann, J. C., Gentile, D. A., Welk, G. J., Callahan, R., Strickland, S., Walsh, M., &
Walsh, D. A. (2008). SWITCH: rationale, design, and implementation of a
community, school, and family-based intervention to modify behaviors related to
childhood obesity. BMC Public health, 8(1), 223.
The Department of Health Australia (2018). Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved from:
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/Overweight-and-Obesity
WHO (2012) Childhood obesity. Retrieved from: https://learn-ap-southeast-2-prod-fleet01-
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