Page 737 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 29 March 2006
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eclipsing all other states and territories, the next nearest figure being Western Australia, where it is 88.4 per cent.
I am not critical. I am not saying we have done a poor job but I am certainly supporting the sentiment contained in Mr Stefaniak’s motion that we should be very careful about making ill-considered changes in this area because the flow-on cost to our community could be considerable. It is important that governments of all persuasions send the message that individuals should engage in regular exercise throughout their lives, a requirement that is assisted, particularly in the case of younger people, by organised sport and recreation in the Canberra community.
Comments have been made about the social impacts of sport as part of the overall program in hoping to discourage the use of illicit substances—or indeed any drugs, legal or otherwise. Whilst it is not a miracle cure, I think there is certainly a fair degree of anecdotal evidence and possibly published research saying that sport can play an important role in encouraging our young people to be focused on those activities, rather than less desirable activities that might arise when they have a lot of spare time on their hands.
We need to also note that obesity in childhood is associated with increased adult cardiovascular morbidity and mortality regardless of adult weight. The report I cited earlier, entitled Healthy weight 2008: Australia’s future, says that overweight young people have a 50 per cent chance of being overweight adults. Clearly the message there is that, if we can influence people’s behaviour when they are young and try and get them into organised sport and other such activity, then we are making an investment in the long-term health of our community. It is logical that this is a problem that needs to be addressed right from the start of childhood.
During much of my career I have worked in the health area studying the impact of food, and I am aware of twin studies and so on. People say that some people have a predisposition to obesity for genetic reasons. That is true, but there are clearly interventions we can support which assist in the overall heath profiles of our children, lending weight to the importance of sporting activity among our young people.
The fact that there is data suggesting that 20 to 25 per cent of Australian children are overweight or obese is extremely worrying—and this figure appears to be increasing. I suggest that, despite all the medical and scientific evidence of the dangers presented by being overweight or obese, a large proportion of Australia’s youth are still engaging in sedentary, inactive lifestyles. According to the Australian government’s Department of Health and Ageing, in the 10-year period between 1985 and 1995 the combined level of overweight and obesity in children more than doubled. In 2003, 62 per cent of children aged between five and 14 participated in organised sport. Unfortunately, that means that about 40 per cent of children were not participating in extracurricular physical activity.
I know government is only part of it. When I was young we had various sporting activities, and there was a lot less sophistication to the organisation of those activities. There was probably no money available anywhere in that era, but that was a sign of the times. I think there is now an expectation that we do all we can to provide adequate facilities and adequate support. At the end of the day there is a huge saving to government because of the volunteer hours that are put into sport.
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