Child Obesity In Australia

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Today, we live in a consumerist society where cheap high-sugar and caloric foods are easily accessible everywhere you go. Many people who eat these ‘foods’ on a regular basis don’t realize the repercussion it has on their life and most importantly, on their children and their diet. Child obesity is a growing concern that has been getting much more serious throughout the decades. There have been several studies conducted in Australia to see why these children are making such poor food choices that cause their obesity. Several factors, of course are quite obvious such as the foods that are accessible to them at home and fast-food chains that swallow their attention with toys and other things they market in commercials. The obesity epidemic…show more content…
Many people believe that all you really have to do is exercise in order to burn off the calories that have been consumed throughout the day. However, it’s not that simple since there are other factors to consider. These foods that these children eat are not healthy and don’t have the nutrients that are needed for growing kids. Trying to exercise the calories away won’t do much since they already have a poor diet. They increase their levels of sugar, sodium and fats. The central focus should be on their diet. Many people, including those who work for those major snack companies such as Nabisco and Hostess, state that eating junk food is fine, just as long as one exercises daily to burn off the calories. However, they don’t say that indulging in the snack may have consequences later in life such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea, and asthma. Therefore, the focus should be more on the diet of the child rather than exercising. It is very good to exercise daily, but in this case, laziness is not the main culprit in child obesity. All these variables that have been stated have consequences that lead to obesity amongst children. The psychological result of an obese child is lower self-esteem, a negative body image, and an overall unfavorable social health. A child who is dealing with overweight or obesity more than likely have bad experiences with other children…show more content…
According to the article, Legislative Solutions to Unhealthy Eating and Obesity i Australia, there are health advocates that have been active and pushed their government to do something about the obesity epidemic. The government has funded social marketing campaigns, recreation infrastructure, such as parks, and healthy eating programs but at the same time, the food industry continues to throw out their advertisements with no regulations by the government. Health experts, however believe that though this may be a very important step to recognizing the seriousness of obesity in Australia, it will not be effective in reducing obesity. They feel that legislation must put into law in addressing obesity and place campaigns of public health problems such as road accidents and smoking habits (MacKay 2011). Many people believe that it is not the responsibility of the food industry that obesity is becoming a serious issue because it is based on sole responsibility of what they choose to eat, whether they choose to exercise or not, and in the case of child obesity, the lack of responsibility the parents maintain; and the food industry concurs when addressed by the government. They are very defensive when they are resistant when the government tries to restrict the food industry from marketing to children in Australia. Legislation has begun to have fast-food restaurants display the nutritional

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