Interesting episode of 4 Corners tonight, about obesity in children.
Something like 30% of Australian children are overweight or obese, which has devastating health consequences down the track when they get older. Our levels of childhood obesity are 2nd only to the USA.
Several angles were explored in the program. Essentially it comes down to eating too much of the wrong foods and not enough exercise. The food industry was washing its hands of the problem, as was Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott. I think they are right to a large degree, that despite the food choices available, at the end of the day, no one is forced to eat junk, and parents should exercise the choice over what their kids eat. Having said this, some assistance in removing temptations could be useful, for example, removing or severely limiting junk food advertising during childrens’ programs, banning the advertising of toys in conjunction with food products, etc.
The other thing, and I think the larger part of the problem, is children not doing enough exercise, and leading too sedentary a life. Too much TV, Playstation, computer etc. Get them out in the park kicking the footy, playing cricket and other games. This of course requires efforts in making our parks clean and safe - deal with the drug users who hang out in some of them, and other assorted weirdos, and make them comfortable for the “normal” people to use.
The secret to fixing obesity - eat less, do more exercise! (although my wife doesn’t appreciate it when I tell her thats all it takes to lose weight).
Melbourne man, Nguyen Tuong Van, looks set to be hanged in Singapore in the near future, for heroin trafficking, having been busted at Changi airport in 2002 with 386g of heroin on him.
