Parents’ education link to childhood obesity, study finds

It will become much harder to tell Australian kids to simply ‘eat less and exercise more’ following the publication of a massive study.

Childhood obesity is a ‘whole of society issue’, according to the co-author of a new study. Picture: istock

It will become much harder to tell Australian kids to simply ‘eat less and exercise more’ following the publication of a massive childhood obesity study, its authors say.

A team of researchers used a complex statistical model to analyse the long-term data of 10,000 Australian children and found whether a parent completed high school – which strongly indicated their socio-economic status – was the “primary root cause” or “on ramp” for childhood obesity.

These “on ramps” flow down to influence body mass index (BMI).

The study, co-ordinated by the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, found for children aged two to four, parental high school level was a driver of parent BMI which then impacted the child’s BMI.

For children aged eight to 10, parental high school level influenced how much a child played electronic games which impacted the amount of time they spent doing ‘free time’ activities like playing sports. This then affected the child’s BMI.

“Obesity is a complex issue. High BMI in childhood and adolescence doesn’t just appear out of the blue. It has antecedents that arise from early in life and progress through childhood,” co-author and childhood obesity expert Professor Louise Baur said.

“Of course dietary intake, low levels of activity, lots of screen time, are risk factors of obesity.

“But it’s so easy for people to say just eat less and exercise more, but if you look further and further back, it goes back a generation, it goes back to a parent’s opportunity to complete high school, and it’s not just related to what’s just happening here and now.”

One in four Australian school-aged children and adolescents are overweight or obese, and childhood obesity could more than double worldwide by 2035, according to recent predictions.

The study also found a “strong and independent link” between parents’ BMI and childhood BMI which suggests weight “runs in the family” due to shared genes.

To address childhood obesity, the study concluded Australia would need to reduce social inequality, including through increasing high school completion rates.

“Nobody chooses to develop obesity,” Professor Baur, who is also the President of the World Obesity Federation, said.

“Maybe this highlights the fact you can’t blame the individual, it’s a whole of society issue. We need to enable families and communities to get young people the best education they can.

“If Australia really was a fair society and gave everyone a fair go, we would also see less obesity. It would be just one consequence of many.”