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A recent study reveals the correlation between overweight/obese parents and the incidence of childhood obesity.

A study published in the international “Journal of Obesity” based at the University of Queensland found a strong link between a parent’s BMI (Body Mass Index) and his/her child’s BMI.

While the study didn’t conclude whether fathers or mothers had more impact on their children’s weight problems, it did discover that a mother with a BMI in the healthy weight range combined with an overweight or obese father  resulted in a significantly higher rate of children (age between 8 – 9 years old) being overweight or obese.

The study done by Dr Emily Freeman found this may be the result of fathers who are poor role models when it comes to exercise and dietary habits.

While the issue of childhood obesity is a complicated one, other studies have revealed that – by their teenage years – an overweight or obese child will set his or her body’s blueprint for life.

This means that if a person tries to lose weight later in life, they will be subjected to a yoyo style of weight gain and loss as the body seeks to reach its original position of equilibrium.

No matter what studies are undertaken, it’s imperative for the future health of our children that this global epidemic is given more attention.

While doing my regular Friday morning recovery bunch ride, I spoke with a 13-year-old who was riding with his father’s friend.

We enjoyed a great chat as we rode along Beach Road enjoying the bay views. It was perfect riding conditions with a slight breeze to balance off any heat generated from exercising.

Well, the 13-year-old was quite amazing. He personified what our children and teenagers should be doing, that is, exercising and eating a balanced diet.

While most of his friends were still in bed, he was up at 4:40 AM getting ready for his morning 30km ride. Interestingly, he told me that most of his friends don’t exercise at all but spend their time playing PS2 late into the night followed by a late sleep-in the next morning.

I asked him whether he spent much time on the Internet or playing video games. He wasn’t that interested even though he got a game console for Christmas a few years ago.

But the most amazing thing he told me was that his parents don’t cycle. His inspiration to ride came from  older brothers who also raced bicycles. From the tender age of 4 he started competing in racing on small tracks especially designed for kids looking for fun rather than the usual full-blown competitive bike racing experienced by his older siblings.

For 5 years he did a lot of mountain biking and BMX. He recently made the transition to a road bike and now rides 3 -4 times a day. His parents are perfect role models – his father regularly goes to Queen Victoria Market to by fruit and vegetables so there’s always a plentiful supply of fresh produce at home.

Most impressive is that he prepares his own lunch every day – a sandwich and a few pieces of fruit. When I asked what his friends had for lunch it was usually take away food from the Tuck Shop – hot dogs or hamburgers with morning tea/recess usually consisting of, in his words, “sugary roll ups.”

Unfortunately, when I asked him about the exercise habits of his fellow school friends, their greatest activity seems to be playing video games. While some kids try to balance their gaming addiction with swimming, the overall consensus was that most did little or no exercise while consuming the types of food that predispose them to health risks later in life.

The 13-year-old also commented that chocolate and similar types of food were “treats” and so should be consumed infrequently. A great lesson, whether it’s children or adults, is that we need to consume these treats on the odd occasion rather than every day.

This 13-year-old also claimed the benefits of getting involved in a regular exercise regime was that he had plenty of energy in the morning and overall felt a lot better than sitting around doing nothing.

While this level of activity and intensity is at the other end of the exercise spectrum for a young teenager, it does give some great insight into the types of positive behaviors missing in our children’s lives in general.

They don’t necessarily have to go out and race bicycles. Just riding around the local park, kicking a football or playing chasey with their friends keeps them active and provides an alternative focus to eyeballing a computer screen.

Written by Andrew Talati

Many say that, when it comes to choosing nutritious food for your children, it’s a parent’s responsibility to read the nutritional information on the box and make the right choice.

But, unless you’re a dietician, it’s a pretty hard task when companies like Kelloggs include misleading and confusing information on their product boxes.

Kelloggs and  other big food conglomerates are currently pushing the boundaries of food labeling in lieu of the imminent threat of government legislation.

Kelloggs puts their RDI percentages are at the top of cereal boxes. But is their message misleading?

Take a box of Coco Pops, for example. The nutritional information tells us that sugars make up 12% of your DI (dietary intake). You’d automatically think this is OK, BUT… Coco Pops also contains 36 grams of sugar per 100 grams or 36.5%.

Does Kelloggs nutritional information give you a fair representation of the amount of sugar contained in a box of Coco Pops? No.

If we go by Kelloggs’ information,  10% DI looks a lot lower than 36.5% sugar. Once again, this is just a clever way of manipulating nutritional information to give a skewed impression of a product.

Kelloggs recently said: “We now focus much of our efforts on promoting healthier cereals, such as Sultana Bran.”

Hmmm… Sultana Bran may provide a 1/3 of  daily fibre needs, but what about its 28.4% of sugar? Can it really be a healthier breakfast cereal?

The problem is that so many products are sold as high fibre or low fat, and therefore apparently healthy. But what companies don’t say is that they’re also high in sugar.

Put simply, we need a better system to manage nutritional information. It needs to be easier to understand, so that you don’t require an intricate knowledge of RDI or grams per 100 grams or grams per serving to understand it.

I quite like the traffic light system – it doesn’t get much simpler.  It’s so simple, in fact, that the Grocery Council of Australia are fighting its introduction or any discussion regarding its merits.

When we know that childhood obesity  tripled between 1985 and 1995 (according to the Australasian Society for the study of obesity), this issue becomes all the more serious.

So the real question is not whether you can advertise whatever you like and put the onus back on to parents to make the right decision.

It’s whether the current system of self-regulation is working at all.

Written by Andrew Talati

In a major step forward, we’re seeing fast food companies finally taking some responsibility and removing novelty toys from children’s meals.

With childhood obesity spiraling out of control we’re faced with the very real threat that, by 2020, 65% of our children will be overweight or obese.

What we’re seeing is a new generation of parents accustomed to the frequent consumption of takeaway food during their own childhood.

The placement of toys, novelty items and other pester-based items in children’s meals has long proven hugely successful in increasing patronage of fast food outlets. For instance, McDonalds has branded children’s play sets that include hamburgers and french fries.  Such  strategies are designed to build brand loyalty for life.

Until now, there has been  a great deal of resistance to the removal of such influential merchandising – a highly contentious issue for government health strategies. The bottom line? Removing novelty toys has a negative effect on profits.

But now it’s great to see things changing. Corporate Affairs Manager at KFC, Zav Rich, has lead the way, saying it was, “the right thing to do.”

What we’re witnessing is the slow realisation by  large multinational companies that their current model of using pester power to boost profits   not sustainable in the future. The time is nearing when the government will legislate to regulate those industries that sell food high in sugar, salt and fat.

I would be surprised if the other fast food players don’t foolow suit. Any reluctance to act responsibly will lead simply to government regulation.

What we need is for the government to follow recommendations from the National Preventative Health Task Force and ban the sale or promotion of toys and other novelty items to drive sales of products targeted at children.

Written by Andrew Talati

Educating children about the benefits of healthy eating can start with showing kids how to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

What children learn from a young age can set the habits and behavior for later on in life as adults.

Ultimately parents need to take some responsibility for educating their children with healthy eating habits. This starts with an appreciation and understanding of the basics such as consuming plenty of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis.

An awesome initiative by Stephanie Alexander involves helping primary schools students growing their own vegetables in the schoolyard and harvesting their produce for cooking in the school’s kitchen.

This initiative spans 180 schools across Australia and involves children age from 8 to 12 years of age.

Today the Commonwealth government has contributed $12.8 million in supporting this invaluable program. These costs help offset any specialised staff and additional infrastructure that may be required in the food production process.

However the program only reaches a small minority of schools cross Australia, while the majority of the 6000 schools missing out.

Once again it comes down to budgetary constraints with very limited funding for a program that has the potential to have a positive effect on reducing Australia’s high proportion of people overweight and obese.

With an alarming 60% of Australians now overweight or obese with me to curtail this alarming statistic by starting by educating children.

It seems the government has the funds to squander $7.5 billion on Victoria’s appalling public transport system since it was privatised in 1999 or the $50 million per year that the Australian GrandPrix costs the Victorian taxpayer.

Surely such initiatives that affect the long-term health of our country deserve a higher allocation of funds.

While fruit and vegetables serve as the foundation for a child’s diet, many parents have experienced it can be a challenging task to get kids to eat their greens.

By giving children a greater understanding of how the fruit and vegetables are produced from a single seed/sapling, cultivation, harvesting and consuming what they produce, there is a greater probability of success as more sensors are associated with the process.

For children having the sense of touch with the plants, cultivating the smell of the garden, and the richness, tastes and smell one gets from freshly grown vegetables it helps children have lifelong associations with fruit and vegetables.

There are also other benefits that children learn responsibility as the plants must be tended to on a daily basis.

Ultimately it is about sending a positive messages about nutritious eating habits that will carry through to adulthood.