AM - Obesity study finds children exercising less
[This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1739016.htm]
AM - Tuesday, 12 September , 2006 08:28:00
Reporter: Annie Guest
TONY EASTLEY: A lot has been written and said about the growing waistlines of Australian children and the large portions of fatty food they eat. But there's another theory on why children are getting fatter and it doesn't involve food.
Many are in fact eating less, but they're not exercising as much as they should because their parents aren't around to spend time with them.
The University of South Australia's Associate Professor Tim Olds spoke to Annie Guest.
TIM OLDS: We tried to get every study that had reported on the energy intake, the food intake of children in developed countries, and we managed to find, as you mentioned, about 1,700 studies going back to 1856.
ANNIE GUEST: And what were your findings?
TIM OLDS: Well, much to our surprise, we find there is a clear downward trend, that if we were to trust the reports of energy intake, then kids are eating less now, than they used to. And the rate of decline is about three per cent per decade.
That means that your kids are eating about 10 per cent less than you were eating when you were their age.
ANNIE GUEST: You critics say that comparative studies done between 1985 and 1995 show that children's energy intake increased by 15 per cent. What do you say to that?
TIM OLDS: Yeah, this is a common study referred to in Australia, but I think if people read that report carefully, they'll find that the authors explicitly state that the results from '85 and '95 for children are not comparable.
It's not unusual, by the way, to find in certain age groups in certain countries across these 50 years, that there are reported increases in energy intake. But when you look at all 1,700 reports together, the pattern of decline is quite clear.
ANNIE GUEST: Alright, well, if children are eating less food, why are they getting fatter?
TIM OLDS: What must have happened is a decline in energy expenditure, that is in physical activities, so kids are being less active, they're probably are spending more time sitting down, watching television, playing video games. So there has to have been quite a rapid fall in energy expenditure.
ANNIE GUEST: What are some of your theories behind children exercising less?
TIM OLDS: Well, I think I agree with everyone that it's quite dramatic changes in both social and built environments.
The fact that the urban design doesn't make it easy for kids to exercise; the existence of busy arterial roads; stranger danger; the fact parents are afraid to let their children out; changes in both parents working, single parent families - all of these things create and environment in which it is very, very difficult for kids to exercise.
TONY EASTLEY: The University of South Australia's Associate Professor Tim Olds speaking there with AM's Annie Guest.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1739016.htm]Exercise and Childhood Obesity[/url]
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