Study projects half of Australian children will be overweight or obese by 2050

A recent study led by Australian researchers projects that by 2050, half of Australian children and adolescents will be overweight or obese. 

The research, published in The Lancet, highlights Australia’s rapid transition to higher obesity rates among high-income countries. citeturn0news9

The study forecasts that 2.2 million Australian children and adolescents will be living with obesity, while an additional 1.6 million will be overweight within the next 25 years. 

Would weighing kids at school actually help them?

Dr Jessica Kerr from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute emphasises that addressing this issue requires systemic and policy changes rather than placing blame on individuals. 

She advocates for government action to implement strategies such as taxing sugary drinks, banning unhealthy food marketing targeted at children, funding healthy school meal programs, and promoting active lifestyles. 

Some other experts have also suggested we start weighing kids in schools to help tackle the obesity epidemic, but could this do more harm than good? 

Obesity researcher and author of Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids, Dr Nick Fuller, told The Briefing that individuals who are overweight during adolescence have an 80 per cent chance of carrying that weight into adulthood.

Dr Fuller suggested that establishing healthy habits in the family home is crucial, as it helps children grow into a healthy weight.

“If we are going to continue getting more robust data around our child’s health and development, we do need to encourage parents to go to the healthcare professionals, GPs, healthcare nurses and do that within the schooling.”

The global analysis, which examined data from 1990 to 2021 across 204 countries, reveals that obesity rates among children and adolescents have tripled over the past three decades. 

Without immediate action, it is projected that one-third of children and adolescents worldwide will be overweight or obese by 2050.

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