Prevalence Of Obesity In Australia And NSW: Risk Groups, Demographics, And Prevention Strategies

Epidemiology of Overweight and Obesity in Australia

Australians experience high rates of obesity, overweight and several chronic diseases. At present 63.4% of the people of Australia suffer from overweight or are obese and about 27.4% of the children of the age group of 5-17 years are obese. So, to prevent obesity from Australia, Obesity Australia was founded in 2011 to make people aware of the avoidance and management of obesity. So, in this report, as a Health Promotion Officer for Obesity Australia, an obesity plan would be formulated in the light of the Best Practice Principles for the prevention and treatment of obesity.

The major cause of cardiovascular disease, cancers, type 2 diabetes and musculoskeletal problems is obesity in Australia. These problems increase with the development of these conditions. Also, the ability to control or regulate the chronic conditions is hampered by overweight.

62.8% of adults in Australia were obese in the year 2014-15 and around 56.3% of the people were obese in the year 1995. 1 in every 5 children in Australia was overweight or obese in the year 2014-15. Around 1 in every 4 children and teenagers are obese that implies around 20% of them are overweight, not obese and 7% of them are obese[1].

Also, the prevalence of obesity amongst the children aged around 5-17 years rose from 21% in the year 1995 to 25% in 2007-08 while it remained stable till 2014-15[2].

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Source(s): National Health Survey: First Results, 2014-15

Furthermore, the rate of obesity increases with age. About 75% of men aged 45 years and above were obese or overweight in 2014-15 while 65.7% of women of the same age were overweight and obese.

Source(s): National Health Survey: First Results, 2014-15

About 2 million (35.2%) of adults in New South Wales were overweight and 1.6 million (28.2%) of them were obese in New South Wales. So the total number of people who were overweight or obese were around 3.6 million ( 63.2%) in 2014-15.

The children between the ages of 2-17 years who were overweight numbered to   251,800 children which were around 16.9% of the total number and around 129,300 children were obese which was around 8.7% of the total number in 2014-15[3].  

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

New South Wales has the largest population in Australia and its capital is Sydney. It is the most populous city with over 4.4 million people. It has the total area of 800,642 km ² and covers 10.4 % of land in Australia. Its coastline is about 2137 km long. The average growth of population is 1.5%  per year.

Outline of the prevalence of obesity in NSW

Around 49.3% of the population comprises of males and 50.7 % are females in NSW as compared to 49.8% males and 50.2% females in Australia.    The people residing in NSW comprise Australians, English, Scottish, Chinese and Irish and the languages are spoken are Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Greek, and Mandarin. The topmost six countries of birth for people in NSW are England, Australia, New Zealand, China, Vietnam and India [4].

There are about 167,506 people living in NSW who are above the age of 85 years with the largest composition of 25-29 years which accounts for 18.1% of the total population as compared to 486,847 people over age of 85 years in Australia with the largest age group of 30-34 years.

 About 22.7% of the people are professionals in NW with a similar percentage in Australia whereas 15.1% of them are administrative workers in NSW  with 13.6 %  throughout Australia and 13.3% of them are Managers in NSW and Australia.  About 23.1% of the households are earning of $2500 per week with 21% households earning same income throughout Australia on weekly basis.  The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in New South Wales is about 225349 as compared to 786,689 Aboriginal people throughout Australia.

The population of NSW has increased by 1.5% over the previous years as compared to the national increase of 1.6 per year.

So according to the analysis, the children suffering from obesity in NSW are at the danger levels and measures should be taken to manage their obesity levels [5].

It is based upon the  Best Practice Principles #2 – Program Design and Planning and identifies that children between the age of 2-17 are at the risk of obesity in New South Wales. There can be so many reasons for obesity amongst children.

One of them is genetics. The interplay of genetics and environment are important factors which contribute towards the obesity of children. The widespread abundance of unhealthy food and inactive lifestyle of children has contributed towards their obesity. It has been assumed that obesity has an understated component of genes . The gene which is associated with fat mass and obesity has a number of factors which influence hunger and satisfaction. The least common factors will produce a person who is 3 kg heavier as compared to the most common factors[6].

The other factors can be a lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating patterns. Overweight can be caused due to hormonal issues and psychological problems. Children can gain weight by consuming poor diet containing high fat or sugar. Some of them become obese as their which parents are not aware of the choice of healthy foods.

Demographic characteristics of NSW

The lack of physical activity is due to inactiveness and lack of exercise. They tend to play games on mobiles and laptops instead of engage in outdoor sports.They are not encouraged to be active to burn their calories through outdoor sports and playground or involving in other types of physical activity. Obesity can be caused by psychological problems. Children who get bored or depressed tend to consume more to manage stress [7].  

In order to reduce the obesity of the children, certain weight loss programs can be implemented to tackle childhood obesity. The parents and guardians can make their kids participate in the program aimed to encourage the physical activities in NSW. In this regard, the government of NSW and the local councils should initiate certain programs at a reduced cost to encourage more participation of children.

Moreover, community education and awareness should be increased by driving partnerships with the key stakeholders to assist children in achieving and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The positive benefits of healthy eating and lifestyle should be emphasized and the messages should be spread amongst the families. The health professionals should be assisted to identify the obese children and to refer them to the suitable programs.They should assist the children and their parents to make low-calorie choices with the help of NSW menu labeling initiatives [8].

Programs should be initiated to introduce healthy eating in canteens of the schools so that the availability of healthy food and drinks should be focused so that they can make a healthier choice. It comprises introducing simpler canteen guidelines for all the schools [9].

More programs such as community-based programs for aboriginal families and regional and remote communities through discussions in person, over the phone and online meetings. So the preferred areas consist of healthy schools, an active community, supporting parents, understanding amongst the members of the community, enhancement of knowledge and working together of governments, industry and community.

	Community engagement	Program design and planning
Policy	Various policies involving parents, guardians, teachers and authorities of the school and the government should be formulated and implemented.	Fun activities involving children for encouraging their participation in sports, fitness and recreational activities should be formulated.
Community	The various members of the community such as parents, guardians, teachers, the authorities of the school and the government should have active participation in the formulation of these programs.	The state government is accountable for formulating policies related to nutrition education and the setting of goals to achieve positive health outcomes for children. These policies can influence personal and environmental determinants which can induce behavioral changes.
Organizational	The school authorities and teachers should be engaged in formulating the programs to encourage children to adopt a healthier lifestyle.	Schools can formulate policies regarding healthy choices in the lunch rooms and limit the accessibility of unhealthy foods and drinks.
Interpersonal	The parents should be involved in encouraging the children to adopt a healthy lifestyle.	The guardians and parents should be involved in the formation of policies to make their children aware of the advantages of healthy eating.
Individual	The children should be encouraged to participate in the physical activities and adopt healthy eating habits.	Policies regarding the participation of children in fun activities and healthy eating habits should be formulated.

As the foundation of a healthy life is laid in the childhood, so this experience should be provided to the children in their schools. The educational institutions have a good opportunity to improve the health of their students and tackle obesity at an appropriate time before it gets worst [10].

So firstly, the policy formulation to help the students stay healthy and active should be initiated at the school level. Obesity Australia has formulated such policy to be implemented at the school level.   It is the responsibility of the schools must educate the students about the nutritional value of the foods and the impact they have on their health. The physical and nutritional activity lessons must be imbibed in the curriculum and the after-school programs, subjects taught in the school and in physical education as well so that they can select  and maintain healthier lifestyles. The activity and nutrition based messages and the physical education taught at school should target engaging the students in regular activities [11].

Target Group which is at risk of obesity in NSW and its causes

The schools can also promote health outside the classes by providing them with the opportunities to eat healthy foods. In order to improve the nutrition, the canteens of the school should include healthy nutrition in the canteens and abolish advertising of harmful foods. In order to increase their physical activity, the schools should construct routes of biking and safe walking which can help in promoting active recess timings. The Obesity Prevention Programs can help in preventing the obesity of the children which can be based on guidance provided by health experts [12].

Conclusion 

In order to conclude this report, it can be said that the prevalence of obesity amongst the children can be a major cause for the emergence of the chronic cardiometabolic disease like diabetes in the children residing in New South Wales. So the various stakeholders such as the government of the state, the local council such as Obesity Australia and various educational institutions can play a major role in curbing it.

References 

[1] A picture of overweight and obesity in Australia [ internet]  Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [updated 2017 Nov 24 cited 2018 August 11] . Available from:  https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/overweight-obesity/a-picture-of-overweight-and-obesity-in-australia/contents/summary 

[2] Ackerman IN, Osborne RH. Obesity and increased burden of hip and knee joint disease in Australia: results from a national survey. BMC musculoskeletal disorders. 2012 Dec 20;13(1):254.

[3] Alsharairi  NA (2018) Current Government Actions and Potential Policy Options for Reducing Obesity in Queensland Schools. Children . 2018 January 29  ;5(18):1-12.

[4] Bleich SN, Segal J, Wu Y, Wilson R, Wang Y. Systematic review of community-based childhood obesity prevention studies. Pediatrics. 2013 Jun 1:peds-2013.

[5] Bogossian FE, Hepworth J, Leong GM, Flaws DF, Gibbons KS, Benefer CA, Turner CT. A cross-sectional analysis of patterns of obesity in a cohort of working nurses and midwives in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. International journal of nursing studies. 2012 Jun 1;49(6):727-38.

[6] Freeman E, Fletcher R, Collins CE, Morgan PJ, Burrows T, Callister R. Preventing and treating childhood obesity: time to target fathers. International Journal of Obesity. 2012 Jan;36(1):12.

[7] Huse O ,Hettiarachchi  J, Gearon E, Nichols  M, Allender  S. , Peeters A (2018) Obesity in Australia. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice. 2017 October 7 ; 12:29—39.

[8] Obesity Australia [ internet] Obesity Australia [updated n.d.; cited 2018 August 11]  . Available from: https://www.obesityaustralia.org/ 

[9] Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. Jama. 2012 Feb 1;307(5):483-90.

[10] Overweight And Obesity[ internet]   Australian Bureau of Statistics[updated 2015 Dec 8 cited 2018 August 11] . Available from:  https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/4364.0.55.001~2014-15~Main%20Features~Overweight%20and%20obesity~22 

[11] Tackling childhood obesity  [ internet]    NSW Government  [updated 2017 Dec 22 cited 2018 August 11] . Available from:    https://www.nsw.gov.au/improving-nsw/premiers-priorities/tackling-childhood-obesity/ 

[12] Walls HL, Magliano DJ, Stevenson CE, Backholer K, Mannan HR, Shaw JE, Peeters A. Projected progression of the prevalence of obesity in Australia. Obesity. 2012 Sept 11; 20(4):872-8.