Young women the most at risk of living with obesity, study finds

The number of overweight and obese Aussie kids will skyrocket in the next five years unless these changes take place.

The number of overweight and obese Aussie kids will skyrocket in the next five years without urgent intervention, a new global study has found.

Led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) it also reports one in three children and adolescents in Australia will be obese by 2050 without changes supported by strong investment in health programs.

The group most at risk without urgent change are young women aged 15-24 years.

Most at risk of living with obesity in Australia will be young women aged 15-24 years.

The researchers say to turn the tide on a looming public health crisis, a five-year action plan is needed to target the drivers of obesity: nutrition, activity, lifestyle and the environments where families live.

MCRI lead researcher Dr Jessica Kerr said the future was bleak for our youth without it.

“It is important that with this level of obesity we need to target the overarching systems and not the people,” Dr Kerr said. “The systems and the environment and the policies are what really need to change rather than blaming parents.”

Dr Kerr said obesity shouldn’t be framed as an individual level problem as this increases stigma.

Murdoch Children's Research Institute researcher Dr Jessica Kerr. Image: Supplied

“We need to move away from just telling people to eat less and move more.”

The researchers studied more than 200 countries and said drivers of obesity globally were complex with interacting social, genetic, biological and environmental influences.

“In Australia we live in an environment surrounded by abundant, affordable ultra-processed foods with junk foods marketed as health foods to our babies and toddlers,” Dr Kerr said.

“Some people are more negatively affected by these environments, such as those with genetic predispositions and it’s really hard to be healthy surrounded by an obesity-promoting environment.”

The researchers want subsidies for healthy foods to make them more affordable for families. Image: iStock/Getty Images

Dr Kerr said it was also important not to write off the results as a lost cause.

“Because too often the issue is ignored as too big, or too complex,” she said. “And we do actually show (in the study) several regions of the world in a position to avoid obesity epidemics. Unfortunately, Australia isn’t one of those.”

Dr Kerr said the observational study, published Tuesday in The Lancet on World Obesity Day, found prevention was key as obesity rarely resolved after adolescence.

“Children and adolescents remain a vulnerable population within the obesity epidemic,” she said, adding Australia was in a lot of trouble without change.

“I think it’s really clear that we need action across the whole life course. So not just in childhood, not just in adulthood, but right through adolescence and early adulthood as well.”

Dr Kerr said the study was a big call for action for changes that could include:

The action plan calls for changes that include reducing sugar-sweetened drinks and unhealthy foods.

REDUCING sugar-sweetened beverages and unhealthy foods;

ADDING subsidies to healthy foods to make them more affordable;

IMPROVING marketing regulations and food labelling and food industry lobbying;

“This giant burden will not only cost the health system and the economy billions, but complications including diabetes, cancer, heart problems, breathing issues, fertility problems and mental health challenges, will negatively impact our children and adolescents now and into the future,” Dr Kerr said.

“Despite these findings … our results provide optimism that this trajectory can be avoided if action comes before 2030.”