Tassie kids fat and lazy
HELEN KEMPTON
October 04, 2008 12:00am
TASMANIAN children are playing less sport than other Australian kids, running the risk of getting fatter as concerns grow about the nation's obesity epidemic.
Data released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows just 59.3 per cent of Tasmanian children aged between 5 and 14 join in organised sport after school -- the lowest participation rate in the nation.
With high levels of inactivity and rising obesity, Tasmania's kids are in danger of being labelled fat and lazy.
ACT kids are the most active with more than 70 per cent playing sport away from the playground. The national average is 63.5 per cent.
The ABS figures covered the 12 months ending April, 2006.
Sport and Recreation Tasmania says things have improved on the activity front in the two years since, and forms of recreation other than organised sport needed to be factored to get a broader picture of how active our children are.
Tasmanian Liberal Senator Guy Barnett said the Active After School Program he pushed to be introduced to combat inactivity covered 30 per cent of the state's schools.
But he said more needed to be done.
"The latest statistics do not paint a pretty picture at all, particularly in light of news that 4.6 million Australians will be obese by 2025 if the current rise in obesity is not checked," Mr Barnett said.
"Tasmania has a very poor record which reflects how much we have adopted the sedentary 21st century lifestyle."
The ABS figures contrast with the results of a national survey released on Thursday that showed Australia's children were no fatter than they were 10 years ago.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed the rates of overweight and obese children had stalled in the past decade.
Eleven per cent of children aged two to 17 were obese and 17 per cent were overweight.
Health experts said although the figures were too high, the confusing messages about weight loss as governments warn of an "epidemic" are having a negative effect on children's self-esteem.
There are a myriad of factors which could be behind Tasmania's low after-school sport participation rate, including family work patterns, a lack of support and funding for recreation, and Tasmania's decentralised population, which includes many residential pockets where public transport is not an option.
In April, Hobart's YMCA chief Stuart Slade called for a statewide obesity summit to address the issue of childhood obesity in Tasmania. The summit would involve politicians, schools, parents and members of the food and fitness industries.
The statistics on organised sport should be tempered by other data from the Survey of Children's Participation in Culture and Leisure Activities which shows that more than 70 per cent of boys and 60 per cent of girls are getting out on their bikes and skateboards after school.
And more than 300,000 girls are involved in organised dancing around the nation.
Nationwide more boys play sport than girls but the difference between the sexes is the most narrow in Tasmania.
Soccer was the most popular boy's sport followed by swimming and Australian rules football.
Girls gravitate towards netball and swimming.
The report on sport participation was released on the same day as a national survey showing the diets of Australian teenagers were severely lacking in fruit and vegetables and almost one quarter of children were overweight or obese.
Only 1 per cent of 14 to 16-year-olds eat enough fruit and just 5 per cent of that age bracket meet the daily recommended vegetable intake, said the Federal Government-sponsored Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Report.
Four out of five teenage girls were not getting enough calcium
Article from:  |
微信扫一扫
提升卡
置顶卡
变色卡
抢沙发
