An obesity campaign urges parents to think of the kids, writes Shane Wright.
PARENTS should only scoff chocolate or a packet of chips after the kids have gone to bed, as part of a new campaign against obesity.
Besides sneaking out of sight for a sugar hit, parents also are urged to put a two-hour time limit on their children watching television or surfing the internet.
Health Minister Tony Abbott last week announced a new ministerial task force, including himself and Education Minister Julie Bishop, that will co-ordinate an anti-obesity campaign involving industry and the community. It will include a $3 million survey to determine what young Australians are eating, and also their levels of physical activity.
A similar survey 10 years ago revealed alarming levels of obesity.
To assist in the new campaign, a Federal Government website has had extra information posted on it, aimed at helping parents make the changes necessary to downsize their overweight kids.
Among the suggestions is that if a parent must eat junk food, it's best to do it out of sight of impressionable children.
"Be a good role model; if you eat healthily your toddler will follow in your footsteps," it says.
Another suggestion aims to ensure children don't spend more than a couple of hours a day in front of a TV or computer screen.
"While these activities can be educational, they involve sitting still, often for long periods of time," it says. Children aren't the only ones to be targeted with this new campaign.
Parents are being told that instead of driving to the local shops, they should get the dog and take it for a walk.
The CSIRO and South Australia University will carry out the survey, involving about 4000 young people, early next year.
The director of the survey, the university's Timothy Olds, says it will provide the information necessary to get a much better picture of the extent of obesity in the community.
But Opposition health spokeswoman Julia Gillard says the Government has to do more than just a survey or provide healthy eating tips to tackle obesity.
She says many of the programs announced by the Government are already in place, simply given a facelift.
"We need a national plan on obesity, one that takes into account action at the general level, the state level and the local government level," she says. "Nothing else is good enough."
Among topics expected to be discussed at the Australian Health Ministers' Conference this week is tougher regulation for junk food advertising.
- AAP
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