Childhood obesity: One in five kids overweight before kindergarten

ONE in five Australian children are overweight before they start school and they are costing taxpayers $17 million a year, a new study shows.

Ben Ponting joins Olivia Ponting, 7, Vivienne Smith, 2, and Sienna Ponting, 5, in keeping obesity at bay. Picture: Peter Wallis

• Kids get wearable tech to help them stay fit
• Anti-obesity push targets 200,000 schoolchildren

ONE in five Australian children are overweight before they start school and they are costing taxpayers $17 million a year, a new study shows.

Researchers found that the annual healthcare costs of an overweight or obese child under the age of five are $367 higher than a child of healthy weight.

The study, published today by the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, highlights the immediate financial benefits to government in working to halt Australia’s growing obesity epidemic in children.

Mr Ponting said regular park visits with the kids was a great way to encourage activity. Picture: Peter Wallis

Lead researcher Vicki Brown — from the Centre for Research Excellence in Obesity Policy and Food Systems at Melbourne’s Deakin University — said the study showed that it was not only in adulthood that obesity was putting strain on healthcare budgets.

“Up until now the argument for intervening in this age group has been to reduce future healthcare costs,” Ms Brown said.

“The new information is that we can do that, but we can also reduce these burdens to taxpayers and the government.

“There is an immediate direct annual cost that we’ve estimated from the information at $17 million.”

The new study was based on research that followed 350 two-year-olds for three years and compared their healthcare costs.

According to the study, behaviours leading to obesity such as poor diet and lack of exercise are established in early childhood.

It showed that the extra weight could affect a child’s immediate health, quality of life and education outcomes.

Ms Brown said the statistics on childhood obesity in Australia were alarming.

Five per cent of Australian kids aged between two and four are obese and those children are two to three times more likely to be hospitalised.

“It is an area we could intervene in and potentially provide these children with a healthier upbringing and future lives, and try to reduce the risk of some longer term conditions,” Ms Brown said.

Father-of-three Ben Ponting said joining in with his girls and regularly visiting a park was a good way to encourage them to stay active.

“I pump up the footy and they go and chase it. They want to run around,” he said.

IN OTHER NEWS: CHINA ON THE MOVE