Experts warn that the present generation of Australian teenagers could be the first with a decline in life expectancy and an increase in heart disease. This comes from the first comprehensive national study of young Australians since 1985 that shows that a quarter are overweight or obese.
The study conducted by Cancer Council and Heart Foundation involved than 12,000 teenagers and noted that 85 per cent of respondents are not doing enough exercise. The team included teenagers aged 8 to 11 at 237 different Australian schools between 2009 and 2010 and asked them about their diet and exercise habits. The survey found 76 percent of adolescents did not consume the daily recommended intake of four vegetable servings and 59 per cent did not eat the recommended three servings of fruit. One third of students drank four or more cups of soft drink, sports drink or cordial a week. Students who drank more sweet drinks also admitted eating one serving or less of fruit and vegetables a day. 71 percent said they spent more than two hours watching TV, playing video games or using the computer for entertainment on a school day. Advertising played a large role in children’s food choices, with 51 per cent saying they tried a new food or drink within a month of seeing it advertised.
Cancer Council CEO Professor Ian Olver said, “The secondary school students’ poll showed that one in four were either overweight or obese, and this sets them up for chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease later on… What we’re going to see is an increasing incidence of heart disease and diabetes and cancer.” Heart Foundation CEO Dr Lyn Roberts added, “Some of these high school students today are going to grow up to be the heart attack victims of tomorrow… There are predictions now that this next generation of children may not live as long.”
Professor Olver pointed out that obesity is more prevalent in areas of low socioeconomic status. “I think governments have to adopt a very broad approach to this,” he said. “At one end of the scale there is making sure that good food is both available and affordable; at the other end of the scale it’s perhaps restricting advertising to children of junk food that will be harmful to them,” he added. Dr Roberts said parents also need to take responsibility. “This study showed that the majority of students have at least three television sets in their homes and almost half of them have a TV in their bedroom… There’s really recent research that shows that if you’ve got a TV in a bedroom it’s associated with a risk of [being] overweight, particularly amongst males,” she explained.
Everyone can do their bit say both organizations. For example Patrick O’Reilly is the principal of Southern Cross Vocational College in Sydney, where they have incorporated the preparation of healthy meals for the students into their hospitality course.
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