Childhood Obesity and Physical Activity – Is there an issue?

Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child’s health or hauora/wellbeing. Due to the rising numbers of obesity in children and its many negative health effects, it is being recognized as a serious public health concern. According to WikiAnswers, %8.3 of NZ children are obese and %20 are overweight.

Methods that determine body fat are difficult. The diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI (Body Mass Index). The BMI is a proxy based on an individual’s weight and height. It does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It is define as an individual’s weight divided by the square of his/her height. This is not a very accurate measurement which makes it a lot harder to decide whether obesity is a growing issue in New Zealand.

Obesity can lead to many negative health problems and/or conditions. Type 2 Diabetes is one of the bigger health problems that obesity can lead to. It is the high blood sugar that increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, amputation, and kidney failure. Obstructive sleep Apnea is another which causes an individual to have pauses of breath during their sleep. There are also certain types of cancer that obesity can lead to, such as: breast, kidney, oesophagus and lining of the uterus, but mainly in the colon. Obesity has been found to reduce the expectancy of life. This is a big problem for the growing number of child obesity in New Zealand.

Obesity affects many aspects of life. Socially obesity can affect a child’s ability to interact with other children. In the playground, obese children aren’t able to physically keep up with other children in the usual games that children play. This causes them to be out casted or left out and often leads to bullying. Obese children are discriminated against because of their size. These negatively affect a child’s emotional wellbeing and self esteem. With a low self esteem, they find it hard to be motivated to improve their health. They have no one to help them both emotionally and physically. In worse cases there have been suicides. This is a huge problem for the future of New Zealand. This is where the government have to step in.

Politically obesity is not well-promoted. Communities are unaware of the effects and causes of obesity. This is a main reason why people do not know how to prevent child obesity or fight it. The fact that the government haven’t paid full attention to this epidemic is a big problem. The Government have not funded in promoting healthy eating or helped stop the regulation of fast-food chains. They need to force the message across schools and organisations in communities where it’s needed the most, to educate our children and parents. They can do this by funding more health organisations and charities such as ‘The Heart Foundation’ who fund their own research and programmes. It will allow them to further their research and prepare more accurate programmes that will help fight obesity in different communities. A lot can be done with even a little funding from the government, which is why the government need to pay serious attention to this epidemic.

Economically obesity is caused through the media advertisements and the prices of food. A very big problem in New Zealand is the prices of food. Fast-food and takeaway outlets have meals that are cheap and affordable. Their unhealthy products sell out a lot because of their low prices. A McDonald’s Deluxe Cheeseburger sells at a simple $2.50, a burger that is affordable from finding loose change around the house. This is how easy it can be for a child to buy a Cheeseburger or even a couple. This burger itself contains approximately 600-1500 calories per serving whereas 1 serving (177 grams) of a garden salad only contains 35 calories. This is a big difference. Advertising these meals also play a big part in their economical strategies. Would you rather go for “A slice of melty New Zealand cheese on a juicy 100% beef patty, zippy pickles and onions, ketchup and mustard all on a soft burger bun” or “A boring old lettuce”? And if that didn’t work on you, then the prices will. Would you pay $2.50 for a mouth-watering Cheeseburger or search through the supermarket for expensive vegetables and dressings (adding up to $10+) to make your own salad? Supermarkets need to find a way to lower the healthier food’s prices. Local fast-food outlets are growing rapidly and are just a walking distance away from most homes.

A main environmental cause in obesity is that most parents provide transport for their children to school every day. According to the Ministry of Transport %40.74 of New Zealand children get dropped off to school every day, even though most of their schools are within walking distance. This takes away easy physical activity opportunities. Because they have school every day, this could help obese children improve their physical fitness. A big reason why most parents provide transport for their children to school is safety. There are many harmful people roaming the streets of New Zealand and children are vulnerable to any strangers. Also, most children are not aware of the dangers in the road and are uneducated of the road safety rules. Allowing children to walk to school will help decrease the rate of child obesity providing physical exercise, but also could increase the risk of child accidents. A way that could help this is if a school or community could put together a programme where the children walk to school in a group supervised by adults. This way they can get in physical exercise and are safe. It could be a fun experience for the children, also not being left out.

In New Zealand, Cultural factors contribute to the obesity epidemic. It is said according to the Ministry of Health that Maori children are 1.5 times more likely to be obese than children in the total population and Pacific children are 2.5 times more likely to be obese than the children in the total population. Why is this? It is because these cultures ‘eat big’. It is in the Samoan culture to provide plenty of food for guests and special occasions, and also to have a family feast every Sunday after Church. Traditional dishes like Sapa Sui (Samoan Chop suey) and Palusami (Taro leaves and Coconut cream) contain a lot of saturated fat and calories. To have a feast with these foods would mean a whole load of calories. This is the reason why pacific islanders have a larger obesity percentage and health problems. But would it be wrong to stop the Samoan traditions? If so, then the only other solution for pacific obesity is highly increased Physical activity.

A Historical factor is the fact that we ‘think’ that we are like our New Zealand descendants. We are descendants of physically hard-working people. They ate a lot because they worked a lot. The only difference between us and our descendants is that we don’t ‘work a lot’. We can eat a lot, but we don’t work hard physically. We can simply go to the shop and order simple “Fish and Chips” whereas our descendants had to go out to sea and catch the fish themselves and cook it. They earned their food, we don’t. As generations progress, technology also progress to make life easy. Technology makes it easier for us and our family to eat. We need to put in a good amount of physical fitness everyday if we want to eat as much as we do and our descendants do.

The Heart Foundation is New Zealand’s heart health charity. They are a not-for-profit, non-government organisation that funds their own research and promotes heart health, helping New Zealanders to live fulfilled lives. Their biggest goal is to stop New Zealanders from dying prematurely from heart diseases; diseases that obesity can lead to. The Heart Foundation’s food industry team works on initiatives that aim to increase the availability of healthier foods and beverages. So that the healthier food choice becomes the easy food choice. A way they do this is by labelling food choices that help improve heart health with the Heart Foundation Tick. This way parents are able to know what food products are good for their family. The heart foundation is committed to helping pacific families and communities make heart healthy choices. Their services help pacific islanders in areas they’re most needed in. The heart foundation provides Pacific healthy eating courses which empower pacific people by giving them the knowledge and skills to create heart healthy environments. If the Heart Foundation were also funded by the government, there would be so much more that they could do to help fight obesity.

The SPARC programme, Push Play is a campaign aimed to inspire New Zealanders to become more active and to value sport as an integral to their day. Push Play has programmes that specifically aim to improve the health of New Zealand children. Their websites and pamphlets include Activity Planners and Activity ideas for each age group. This allows children to physically exercise at the appropriate level set for them. An example of one of their activity ideas is: to create an obstacle course around the playground or at home and race with friends around them. This allows the children to have fun while exercising and is free. The activity also improves their social and mental/emotional wellbeing, being with friends and giving them more confidence in their physical ability. The Push Play programme let all children take part in fun physical activity and helps them to prevent or fight obesity. SPARC is an effective sports foundation and should be funded more to help more New Zealand children improve their whole health.

Obesity is indeed a serious issue for New Zealand children and should be closely looked at by everyone. The government need to pay more attention to this epidemic and visit these communities in need. By doing this, they can set up or fund campaigns that will help fight obesity and they will all be educated on obesity.