Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Childhood obesity has reached critical levels, with recent reports indicating that the prevalence of obesity has trebled amongst young Australians, and the number continues to rise. It is estimated that one in five Australian children are overweight or obese. The figures in New South Wales indicate that it could be as many as one in four. Alarmingly, one in 10 boys in year 10 has liver damage and one in five suffers from high blood pressure as a result of being overweight. Some experts predict that the current generation of children might be the first to die at an earlier age than their parents as a consequence of obesity.

This issue needs to be addressed. Childhood obesity is a public policy problem. Not addressing childhood obesity has public policy implications for our health budgets, implications for the Australian economy and potential long-term effects for the future. In many circumstances childhood obesity results in obesity in adults and, as such, places those adults at risk of serious medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

Obesity is reported to have caused more than 100,000 Australians to suffer from type 2 diabetes, almost 380,000 to suffer from cardiovascular disease and 225,000 to suffer from osteoarthritis. Such conditions place considerable pressures on our health system and this, in turn, places pressure on our future budgets. Access Economics has estimated that the cost of obesity in Australia reached $21 billion last year, including a direct financial cost of $3.767 billion. Therefore, the public policy imperative of this matter is undeniable.

The Minister for Health and Ageing continues to neglect his duty to us and to future generations by persistently denying that childhood obesity is a real or significant problem. He has tried to tell the Australian public that it is ultimately a problem for parents. That is clearly wrong. In question time yesterday the minister was quizzed on his response to obesity in a series of questions from both sides of the House. We heard him wax lyrical about the government’s efforts to tell us about how much money has been dedicated to research. Research is fine, but, as the head of paediatrics at Campbelltown Hospital, Dr Andrew McDonald, has advised me, this matter should be brought to the attention of all policymakers. He says that, in the minds of medical practitioners, there is no doubt that there is a socioeconomic dimension to this problem.

Children from poorer families are more likely to be obese, because fatty food is cheaper. Accordingly, outer metropolitan areas of Sydney are disproportionately affected due to their relative socioeconomic standing. I am not critical of local parents; it is the nature of the problem. But, when family budgets are under pressure from rising mortgage costs, rising petrol costs and cuts to take-home pay, parents look to where spending cuts can occur. Unfortunately, food and the quality of food is one such area.

Having identified and understood the breadth of the problem, I concede that there is no simple answer. Much as with addressing a road toll, a suite of measures is required. Banning the television advertising of junk food is certainly a good start but, as the Sydney Morning Herald reported, the cleverest marketers will find their way around that. Other measures that address the contribution of our lifestyle need to be encouraged. The proper resourcing of abstention programs at schools and, particularly, things such as Active After-School Communities programs is certainly also to be encouraged. Such programs should be properly resourced to encourage more kids to participate in healthy activity. (Time expired)