Part 3: Child obesity – some facts
3.1
According to WHO, being overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.3
3.2
Results from the 2011/12 New Zealand Health Survey show that about 31% of New Zealand children between 2 years and 14 years old are either overweight (21%) or obese (10%).4 The child obesity rate has increased from 8% in 2006/07 to 10% in 2011/12.
3.3
Child obesity is a multifaceted problem to which there is no single or universally accepted solution. The many factors that contribute to obesity and obesity-related health issues are complex and include broader social issues, such as poverty, housing conditions, food security, and the cost of healthy food.
3.4
Evidence suggests that obese and overweight children generally come from the most deprived neighbourhoods in New Zealand.5 The New Zealand Index of Deprivation 2006 highlights that 65% of Māori and 78% of Pasifika people live in the most deprived neighbourhoods. The 2008 New Zealand Living Standards Survey states that Māori and Pasifika people have hardship rates two to three times higher than those of European or other ethnic groups.
3.5
The prevalence of being overweight and obese in Māori and Pasifika children and young people is higher than in the total population of children and young people. In 2011/12, the rate of obesity in Māori children was 17% and in Pasifika children 23%.6
3.6
Obesity in childhood and adolescence has a range of serious adverse health consequences, both in the short term (for the obese child) and long term (for the adult who was obese as a child).7
3.7
Children who are obese are more likely to become obese adults, and this likelihood increases the more obese a child is.8 Obesity in adults is known to lead to both chronic and severe medical problems, such as heart disease, cancer, type II diabetes, and high blood pressure. These diseases can affect a person’s life expectancy.
3.8
The figure below shows some of the health complications associated with child obesity.
Source: http://obesityinyouth.org/.
Note: Sleep apnoea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. Proteinuria means protein in the urine. Protein in the urine may be an early sign that the kidney's filters have been damaged by disease. Cirrhosis is scarring of the liver.
3.9
Recent studies, using 2006 data, show that being overweight or obese carries annual costs of between $720 million and $850 million in health care and lost productivity. Of this, health care costs totalled $624 million, or 4.4%, of New Zealand’s total health care expenditure. Costs of lost productivity, through absenteeism, premature death, or recruitment and training of replacement staff, were estimated to be between $98 million and $225 million.9
3: See WHO factsheet number 311, Obesity and overweight, updated in March 2013 (www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/).
4: See the Ministry of Health’s report, The Health of New Zealand Children 2011/12, published in December 2012 (www.health.govt.nz/publication/health-new-zealand-children-2011-12).
5: See the Ministry of Health’s report, The Health of New Zealand Children 2011/12, published in December 2012 (www.health.govt.nz/publication/health-new-zealand-children-2011-12).
6: See the Ministry of Health’s report, The Health of New Zealand Children 2011/12, published in December 2012 (www.health.govt.nz/publication/health-new-zealand-children-2011-12).
7: Reilly, JJ (2009), "Obesity in children and young people" in Highlight No 250, London: National Children’s Bureau.
8: Reilly, JJ (2009), "Obesity in children and young people" in Highlight No 250, London: National Children’s Bureau.
9: See http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/template/news_item.jsp?cid=535144, and Lal, A; Moodie M; Ashton T; et al, Health care and lost productivity costs of overweight and obesity in New Zealand, Canberra, ACT, 2012 ISBN/ISSU 1326-0200.
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