title: Childhood obesity in Australia remains a widespread health concern that warrants population-wide prevention programs.
abstract: Recent reports have suggested that the problem of childhood and adolescent obesity has been exaggerated in Australia, and that community-wide obesity prevention initiatives are not warranted; we argue that this is not an accurate reflection of the situation. Available data indicate that obesity affects 6%-8% of Australian schoolchildren, and that the proportion has continued to increase in recent years. Childhood and adolescent obesity is associated with a wide range of immediate health concerns, as well as increasing the risk of disease in adulthood. Some weight-related health problems are also found in overweight children. A range of strategies, including whole-of-community obesity prevention programs, will be required to tackle this problem. Concerns about disordered eating in children and adolescents should not preclude appropriate action on childhood obesity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Obesity, Nutrition and Exercise, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW. tim.gill@usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: Timothy P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Baur
authors.forename: Adrian E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.forename: Kate S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Steinbeck
authors.forename: Leonard H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Storlien
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fiatarone Singh
authors.forename: Jennie C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Brand-Miller
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Colagiuri
authors.forename: Ian D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Caterson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011634:Public Health; D015980:Public Health Practice; D040241:Social Marketing