(26-04-06) Shocking truth of childhood obesity

By Julie Robotham and Julian Lee

A GROUNDBREAKING study produces the first conclusive evidence that excessive eating - not lack of exercise - is behind rocketing levels of childhood obesity, challenging the Federal Government's refusal to restrict food advertising aimed at children.
The study of 5407 students from 90 public schools in NSW, commissioned by the State Government, contradicts the "urban myth" that children are increasingly inactive and hooked on sedentary pastimes. They are exercising much harder than in the 1990s, and yet still stack on more weight.
That leaves over-eating as the main culprit, and throws the spotlight on the promotion of fast food and snacks. Michael Booth, the University of Sydney doctor who conducted the statewide survey, says television advertising and toy giveaways should be regulated - and firms that promote high-calorie foods with limited nutritional value should be banned from sponsorship of junior sport.
Dr Booth says sponsorship of junior sport is "particularly insidious because in kids' minds Macca's is then associated with a healthy lifestyle". His study comes as:
? Out-of-control consumption of soft drinks has been blamed for fuelling the crisis;
? Boys' weight gain is outstripping that of girls; and
? Sporting organisations report record levels of junior membership.
Dr Booth, the director of the university's NSW Centre for Overweight and Obesity, and a pediatrician at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, will now audit sponsorship sources for junior sport across the state and identify possible alternatives.
Dr Booth found 23 per cent of girls and 26 per cent of boys were overweight or obese in 2004 - both up from about 20 per cent in 1997.
But the children, aged four to 16, were exercising harder. More than 80 per cent in years 6 to 8 were adequately physically active - spending at least an hour a day in moderate or vigorous activity - compared with less than 60 per cent in 1997. "This flies in the face of what I think was an urban myth that children were inactive," said Dr Booth, who was so surprised that he ordered a recalculation. "Like everyone else, I believed the urban myth ?"
But the study - commissioned after the 2002 NSW Obesity Summit - was corroborated by fitness measurements. Despite their extra kilograms, the children performed better than the 1997 students on a test in which they ran increasingly fast over a short course.
A spokesman for the NSW Minister for Health, John Hatzistergos, said the full report would be released soon. Dr Booth presented highlights at a conference held by the advocacy group Diabetes Australia NSW last week.
The Federal Government came under fire this week for failing to order an update on eating patterns for more than a decade. Children's calorie consumption rose by 15 per cent between 1985 and 1995 - and the NSW data suggests it continues to rise.
The Government has consistently resisted pressure to restrict food advertising to children. Last week, the federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, said: "What we really need is more responsible dietary behaviour from parents, from individuals and school canteens. I won't ? be demanding that they ban ads."
Collin Segelov, executive director of the Australian Association of National Advertisers, said sport sponsorship was "not going to make anybody fat". Companies were already reducing salt, sugar and fat content, and an industry code on marketing was due within three months, which would consider sponsorship. But he said: "If someone pulls the plug, then the sport could disappear. They are the ones that approach us, not the other way round."

Fonte: www.smh.com.au

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