February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Referred to the South Eastern Health Board’s pilot Childhood Exercise and Nutrition Clinic, she worried about her son’s health, and the effects any treatment might have on his self-esteem.
“Kids have enough pressure on them, and we have to look after their psychology too,” Julie-Anne said. “Children these days, they live close to the edge all of the time.”
For decades it seemed like it was an American problem: a combination of physical inactivity and unhealthy diet that led to pantomime rises in rates of obesity. No more is this the case. Today, pediatricians estimate that 15-20 percent of Irish children are clinically overweight.
“It is a very serious problem,” says Ursula O’Dwyer, consultant dietician with the Irish government’s Health Promotion Unit. “It will have huge cost implications for the health services, because more and more children are entering at a young age and many are likely to stay there for life.”
The clinical and public health implications of childhood obesity are multiple. It is a factor in cardiovascular disease, the biggest single cause of death in Western populations. It is strongly linked to gall bladder disease, joint disorders, asthma and Type-II diabetes in adolescents.
But life through the crucible of obesity has psychological ramifications too. Overweight children are vulnerable to bullying and, since obesity tracks from childhood to adulthood, long-term self-esteem issues are at stake.
“If they can’t like themselves, if they can’t stand on their own two feet, then they can’t do anything,” said Julie-Ann.
This is why, at Bill’s clinic, treatment began with reassurance. “Some parents have concerns that attending such a clinic might label their child even further,” said nursing coordinator Bernie O’Brien.
She described the service, shortly to undergo evaluation as to its long-term prospects, as “child-friendly.” The aim was to cultivate dietary and activity habits that would stay in place for the rest of their lives.
Trouble is, the modern lifestyle seems to encourage habits contrary to our health requirements. Irish adults, for instance, spend less than two hours per week in vigorous activity such as jogging, aerobics or swimming, according to a 2001 survey undertaken by the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance. Watching TV, the survey found, takes up an average of 19 hours.
If anything, children aspire to meet this trend as they grow older. Participation in regular physical activity decreases from 63 percent of 9-11 year olds to 40 percent of 15-17 year olds, a recent survey at the Department of Health Promotion, NUI Galway, found.
Urban sprawl, traffic congestion and a paucity of public recreation facilities all conspire against outdoor activities. Parental security concerns, too, mean it is often easier to allow children divert themselves with computer games and TV, where they are sedentary, safe and happy.
But TV may not be the harmless pacifier it appears. UK research shows that children are exposed to between two and three times more food advertising than adults: much of it bright, repetitive and snazzy takes on fast food, soft drinks and sugar-sweetened cereals.
Parents will be familiar with the sluice of commercials punctuating Saturday morning TV, and their children’s concomitant knowledge of food brands. But are young minds capable of deconstructing such messages?
“Children lack adults’ knowledge, experience and maturity of judgment,” according to Section 5.1 of the ASAI Code of Standards.
Section 5.4(d) continues: Advertisements addressed to children “should not encourage an unhealthy lifestyle or unhealthy eating or drinking habits.”
The Advertising Industry, however, argues against a ban. Ads are soft targets, representatives say, and knee-jerk political fixes would only serve to push marketers into less well-regulated promotion, such as in-store.
“We don’t deliberately set out to make children do things that aren’t good for them,” says Philip Sherwood, President of IAPI. “All things in moderation, that’s the key to this.”
Advertising is obviously influential in creating “pester power?” Sherwood said, but it is na