Murdoch Children’s Research Institute study shows concerning statistics for child obesity rates in Australia

Half of Australian children and teenagers will be obese or overweight by 2050, a new major international study shows. The research by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute found Australian children and adolescents have experienced some of the fastest transitions to obesity in the world. It predicted 50 per cent would be obese (2.2 million) or overweight (1.6 million) within the next 25 years. “The forecast equates to 1.8 million children aged 5–14 years and 2 million aged 15–24 years with one in three facing obesity,” the study, published in The Lancet on Tuesday, said. Obesity is increasingly considered a complex chronic disease that has immediate impacts on children’s physical and mental health. Report author Jessica Kerr, from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, said the future was bleak for youth if immediate five-year action plans were not developed to address the country’s “public health crisis”. “Children and adolescents remain a vulnerable population within the obesity epidemic,” she said. “This giant burden will not only cost the health system and the economy billions, but complications associated with a high Body Mass Index (BMI), including diabetes, cancer, heart problems, breathing issues, fertility problems and mental health challenges, will negatively impact our children and adolescent now and into the future, even holding the potential to impact our grandchildren’s risk of obesity and quality of life for decades to come.” The study found in 2021 there were 493 million — 18.1 per cent of individuals aged 5 to 14 and 20.3 per cent of those aged 15 to 24 — who were living with being obese or overweight globally. The global prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents increased by 244 per cent between 1990 and 2021 and is expected to increase by 120 per cent between 2021 and 2050. “Without urgent policy reform, the transition to obesity will be particularly rapid in north Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and in the Caribbean, where the rise is concurrent with high population numbers and limited resources,” Dr Kerr said. “To prevent a public health emergency from this newer threat, an immediate imperative should be creating national surveillance surveys of obesity in children and adolescents in every country.” Dr Kerr said older adolescent girls aged 15-24 years entering their reproductive years were a priority population for intervention. “Adolescent girls who are obese are a main focus if we are to avoid intergenerational transmission of obesity, chronic conditions and the dire financial and societal costs across future generations,” she said. Professor Susan Sawyer said governments needed to take action to implement strategies to reduce obesity drivers. “Given this huge global shift in children’s and adolescents’ weight, we can no longer keep blaming people for their choices” she said. “We require governments to step up by addressing regulatory interventions including taxing sugar sweetened beverages, banning junk food advertising aimed at children and young people and funding healthy meals in primary and secondary schools. “We also need to consider the benefits of wider policies such as overhauling urban planning to encourage active lifestyles.” According to the study, if there is no urgent policy reform, around 60 per cent of adults and a third of all children and adolescents will be living with obesity or overweight by 2050.