Matter of Public Importance: Health: Child Obesity

17th Jun 04

Mr ORGAN (Cunningham) (4.16 p.m.) — I welcome the opportunity to speak on the matter of public importance raised by the member for Bruce on the government's failure to address one of Australia's most concerning community health problems, the growing incidence of child obesity. As a parent myself I have been considering this issue for a couple of years now, and it is a very difficult issue facing parents throughout this country. We have heard various aspects of it. The previous speaker talked about some of the political aspects of it, the so-called problems with Labor's policy announcements; but, as the minister said—and I have to agree with the minister—at the end of the day it is a massive issue which has lots of elements to it. Obviously the role of parents, parental responsibility, is a very important part of it.

One of the issues the minister did not spend a lot of time on is schools. Our children spend a lot of time at school. In dealing with the issue of childhood obesity which is confronting so many of us, we have to consider the whole context, from when the kids wake up in the morning what we feed them for breakfast, what they eat at school, what their activities are at school and what they do when they get home from school through to what they do at night.

As previous speakers have pointed out, at present some 30 per cent of our children are defined as overweight or obese, and apparently by 2025 that figure is going to be up near 50 per cent. So there is obviously an urgent need for the Australian community to do something about it. We know that other developed countries such as America are facing this problem as well. It is a problem we all know about. What is the role of government? Who is going to make a change? Who is going to make a difference? We have obviously got a problem. How has that problem happened? It has happened very naturally, I think. The previous speaker said, `You can't blame this person, you can't blame that person.' I think that is right. The whole obesity thing has crept up on us and all of a sudden in the last couple of years we are saying: `Hang on, we've got a real problem here. We've got children getting diabetes and heart disease, we've got problems with their teeth, we've got all those associated issues that come out of childhood obesity and how it affects children in their later days.' It has come on us and we have not really been prepared for it. We have not known how to deal with it and we are still coming to terms with it.

In this House the opposition is saying that the government has not done enough and the government is saying that the opposition's policies are not going to work or are misguided. Those debates will carry on, but outside of this place the community is also discussing and is concerned about this issue. It was brought to my attention as the federal member for Cunningham early last year by a local fitness trainer who trains people working at the University of Wollongong. He is the father of some young children who go to the same surf club as my children. He spoke to me early last year about the whole issue of childhood obesity and how it is a major issue—how trainers, physical education teachers and other such people throughout Australia have been really concerned about it for a number of years. It has crept up on a lot of us and we were not really aware of it. The Greens are very supportive of a natural, healthy lifestyle, supporting people in the community and making sure that we are a healthy society in every way so that those health problems do not impact on the cost of health care and some of those other issues as well.

When it was brought to my attention, I looked first at my own family and thought, `Yes, I can see the issue here.' We have heard stories about lethargy and lack of exercise children are currently experiencing. My two sons spend a lot of time playing video games; they do not necessarily play a lot of physical games like I did when I was a kid. There are lots of reasons for that. In my day we could go and play in the local paddock or near the local creek. Nowadays there are not a lot of places where kids can go out and play. There are concerns in the community about their safety. There are also the issues of insurance and public liability. Two weeks ago I wrote to the principal of my sons' primary school. Until this year, during lunchtime the children from fourth class up would go across the road to a park and would run freely. I used to do that when I went to that school back in the early 1960s. But that has now been stopped and the children in the primary school are forced to stay within the confines of the school grounds, which are now fenced in with high fences, and they are forced to play on the hard concrete and tar and other areas like that. For 30, 40 or 50 years children had been able to play during lunchtime in the park and engage in strong physical activity.

It is not just parents who are not pushing children outside and forcing them to do more exercise; it is also society. They cannot run free because of cars on the roads and they cannot play in playgrounds because of insurance problems faced by schools. These are some of the issues that have to be dealt with. We have to make sure that the insurance system is friendly enough for schools so that schoolteachers do not think, `If I'm going to let the children go into the park at lunchtime, we've got to have a survey of that park two hours before to make sure there's no broken glass and there are no hazards for the children.' These things are forcing our kids inside more and more to become more lethargic, unfortunately.

The fact that a lot of kids do not do a lot of exercise at school is also a problem. I think schools have a big role to play. We need to focus on how we can get exercise in the school environment to be more upfront and more of an issue. Things such as having good food in school canteens and having regular exercise at school are important. I am a parent and I agree with the minister that it is important that parents, guardians and carers of children have to be mindful of the issue of lethargy and the problems of bad diet and a lack of exercise. We have to say, `No, it's not all right to sit in front of a computer game on Saturday for six hours.' We have to get them out and about. That is something that we are responsible for as parents.

As parents in this place we do not have much time for our kids, unfortunately, because of the stresses and the time constraints on us as politicians. We have heard here about people with two or three jobs. There are real problems with parents being available to spend quality time going for a walk with their kids. Parents do have a role, but it is not just parents who have a role; it is schoolteachers, guardians and carers.

We have heard issues about the health effects. I went to an obesity forum recently. Robert de Castella was there. He is promoting exercise in school. We heard there about issues such as stage 2 diabetes becoming more prevalent among our children as a direct result of obesity. There are going to be real impacts on the costs of health care in this nation as a result of childhood obesity if we do not get on top of it and find the solutions. Obviously one of the main issues we are facing is food—whether it is junk food or just kids eating too much. We have to deal with the issues of food, overeating, diet and all those sorts of things. The other issue is exercise, which we have to promote as well.

What the government need to do is quite simple—they need to offer some leadership, give some direction to families and give support to families. It is not all up to the federal government, state governments or local governments; it is up to the whole community to be aware of this issue and work together. I could be critical of the government for not having done something more specific on this issue. I wrote to the Minister for Health and Ageing last September asking what specific programs there were in regard to treating and preventing childhood obesity. The comment came back from the minister that there were no specific projects and that they were looking into it. I understood that a task force would be reporting to health ministers on 28 November 2003 on this issue. We are still waiting for the outcome of that inquiry.

Like many Australians I am looking forward to what the Prime Minister has to say at the end of this month in regard to the $120 million playing for life policy and how the government is going to move forward in dealing with childhood obesity, because it is an issue that we are all facing and it is an issue that I am sure we are all going to work together to confront and it is an issue that really cuts across all political boundaries.