How the Government Can Solve the Issue of Childhood Obesity

Introduction 

Obesity often is the result of negative diet and exercise habits which should have been developed during childhood. This is a significant issue as it will lead to health issues including hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. Creating legislation to target childhood obesity will address some of the issues which are resulting the growing youth obesity epidemic. Developing health habits in childhood, banning negative influences, increasing accessibility to quality fitness services and healthy food, as well as making it difficult for children to access unhealthy food options may help reduce this growing issue. 

Obesity In Children 

The diet and exercise habits developed during childhood are of significant importance as they form the foundation of the individual’s habits throughout their life. Children who develop unhealthy diet and exercise habits, often through parental influence, are more likely to be obese during childhood, adolescence and adulthood. The health effects caused by obesity is extensive and ranges from psychological to physical. Many obese individuals, particularly adolescents, suffer from mild to severe self consciousness and anxiety as a result from their obesity as well as depression and eating disorders. Physical health conditions include hypertension, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, some cancers such as breast, liver, colon and kidney, osteoarthritis and low quality of life. Concern has been raised regarding the influence of television commercials for fast food outlets and unhealthy foods during prime times for children watching tv. According to a survey by Papoutsi 63% of adult Australians are overweight or obese and the rate 1 is accelerating 1% per year and 25% of Australian children are overweight or obese. Additionally, it was found that 83% of shoppers were in favour of banning fast food commercials during the prime viewing hours in which children were most likely to see these adverts. When asked what most influenced their children’s shopping requests, 29% said commercials and another 29% said giveaways and prizes. 

Educating Parents 

Lack of knowledge regarding the diet and exercise requirements of children has been identified as a precursor for childhood obesity. A study found that many parents incorrectly identified their obese children as being of healthy weight. Additionally, those who participate din the survey displayed lack of knowledge regarding healthy foods, serving size and physical activity requirements for children. This shows that there is a severe lack of education for parenting and this is a major cause of childhood obesity. Despite this knowledge deficiency, parents still recognise that they have the greatest responsibility in addressing the childhood obesity issue. Bad parenting is not to blame, rather lack of training and education services for parents. Legislature needs to be created which supports positive behaviours such as good diet and regular exercise. Because parents are role models for their children, legislature should be created that encourages and supports these positive behaviours being demonstrated by parents which will then be developed by children. Not only will this help address childhood obesity but also the obesity epidemic as a whole across all ages. The Government’s responsibility to create healthy public policy is a fundamental component for reducing the rate of childhood obesity. The government should develop wide-spread and easily accessible health content and programs to help guide and educate parents. These programs need to cater to all parents and their schedules. Although the creation of physical programs is a positive suggestion, creating an informative website that all parents can access to gain the education and skills they need for effective parenting to prevent childhood obesity would be significantly more effective. A study found that many parents are under the impression that children will only eat until they are full. This is a clear indicator that parents are clueless when it comes to feeding their children and it is no wonder why obesity is a growing issue. 

Access to Healthy and Unhealthy Food Options 

Taxing unhealthy food options has been assessed as a possible legislative change to help reduce the obesity epidemic by discouraging consumers from purchasing these foods. The establishment of a “fat tax” on particularly unhealthy foods would likely discourage consumers from purchasing these unhealthy food options. Another suggestion is traffic light labelling which involves using colour red and green stickers to indicate how healthy or unhealthy a product is. The possibility of creating legislature such as taxing unhealthy foods, has increased in popularity in the past decade. Reducing the cost of healthy food options is a more viable option politically because it achieves similar goals without raising prices of the foods. Making healthy food options more affordable especially for lower income earners would likely improve the diet of many struggling Australians. According to a 2018 survey by Barriers to childhood obesity prevention: Parental 3 knowledge and attitudes, parent responses indicated that the main barriers toward healthy weight status were food cost, lack of knowledge, and lack of time. 

Conclusion 

Obesity has is an epidemic which begins during childhood when people are most easily influenced and when it is most important to establish good eating and exercise habits. The health effects, both physical and psychological, are severe and often fatal for many Australians hence the need for government intervention. Exposure to media and advertisements manipulates children to crave unhealthy foods, a result which develops over time and progresses into adulthood. Although parents acknowledge their responsibility to maintain their children’s weight, many parents are severely lacking the knowledge they need to grow healthy children. The government therefore needs to help support parents through the creation of programs and health content which addresses this need. Taxing unhealthy foods, reducing the cost of healthy foods and traffic light labelling encourages consumers to make better choices. The government has a responsibility to make these and other changes to help reduce the obesity epidemic.