The Effects Of Physical Education On A School Environment And The Rising Health Concerns Of Our Society

Obesity carries many baggage throughout an obese person’s life and affects many Australian’s throughout the state. In current times, obesity in Australia has made its way to being one of nine National Health Priority Areas that was brought to the attention of Australian governments. The problems with obesity is that it carries many health conditions such as obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease, renal dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, cognitive impairment and depression, cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and osteoarthritis. Access Economics (2008) reported various estimates on obesity-related burdens in Australia. Obesity-related burdens comprises of cardiovascular disease by 21% with a population of 644,843, 24% of type 2 diabetes with a population of 242,033,

According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident

Many doctors and health experts have released articles and reports stating sugar and carbohydrates are the driving mechanism behind the current Australian obesity epidemic and are also responsible for the cause of diabetes (Prisk, 2015). However, sugar cannot take the whole blame for the cause obesity as Tim Gill stated in the 2014 Courier Mail magazine ‘Body and Soul’ because there are other contributing factors to the epidemic of obesity including an imbalance between energy consumptions of high calorie foods such as sugars, fat and proteins and the lack of physical activities to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Finally, genetic and environmental factors also play a major

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as ‘abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health’. (1) A general measure used to monitor obesity is the body mass index (BMI). A person with a BMI of 25+ is considered overweight and 30+ is obese. Between 2011 – 2012 62.8% of Australians adults, aged 18+ were overweight or obese, with 27.5% of the cases being obese. This has increased by 6.5% since 1995. (2) The obesity epidemic in Australia needs to be addressed urgently as it is a precursor to most preventable lifestyle diseases and a BMI over 25 is the second highest contributor to burden of disease in this country. (3) According to WHO, worldwide the rate of obesity has doubled from 1980-2014. (4) In 2014-2015,

Overweight is fast becoming an ubiquitous trait in Australia. According to the 2005 National Health Survey, 53.6% of Australians reported being overweight, defined as having a Body-Mass Index (BMI) of over 25%. (AIHW, 2005, p. 182). This is partly caused by diets which are high in saturated fat and dependent on processed foods over fresh foods. It is also caused by a continuously sedentary lifestyle, as most Australians perform their job sitting down in an office setting and are, furthermore, compelled stay tethered to their computers lest they miss an important communication.

The issue I have been exploring in my blog is childhood overweight and obesity. Overweight and obesity can be defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2006). BMI is a widely accepted measure used to determine overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. According to the Australian Government Department of Health website, BMI is determined by comparing calculated (weight/ height2) against the relevant age and sex of the child/adolescent (Department of Health, 2009). Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Growth Charts, often used in health care settings, are used to determine the corresponding BMI-for-age and sex percentile.

In Australia, obesity has a substantial prevalence in the population. In 2014.15, 63.4% of Australians aged 18 and over were overweight or obese, which equates to approximately 11.2 million people. Of these 63.4%, 35.5% were overweight (6.3 million people), and 27.9% (4.9 million people) were obese (1). These statistics are 10% higher than in 1995, when approximately 53% of Australians were either overweight or obese (2).

The media article ‘Shocking Statistics That Illustrate Australia’s Obesity Problem’ written by Leigh Campbell in the Huffington Post Australia Newspaper on February the 24th 2016 will be discussed throughout the report (Campbell, 2016). The newspaper article focuses on the alarming increase in numbers of obese individuals in Australia and the many health issues associated.

Obesity, according to the World Health Organisation, is defined as ‘abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health’ (World Health Organisation, 2014). The Conversation article presented by Sacks and Cameron states that close to two-thirds of Australians are overweight and that unhealthy diets contribute to more disease and illness in Australia than smoking (Sacks and Cameron 2014). It then points out that obesity the tripling of obesity in Australia is not merely due to a lack of personal responsibility but with all the changes occurring in the food environment and the increasing supply of cheap, energy-filled

Childhood obesity has taken center stage in the Australian public health debate. This is not surprising given the 500% increase in the rate of childhood overweight and obesity from just 5% in the 1960s to 25% today.(1) While many developed countries face similar obesity levels, (2, 3) this essay explores the childhood obesity epidemic in an Australian context. It argues that a portfolio of primary prevention programs will be needed to curb the incidence of obesity. The essay has three parts. The first looks at the impact of childhood obesity at an individual and societal level. The second identifies the risk factors for overweight and obesity in childhood. The third offers up some primary prevention programs and outlines the

The percentage of overweight and obese children in Australia, despite rapid increases in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, have remained mostly steady for the past 10 years, with 23 to 24% of Australians under the age of 18 classified as overweight, and 5 to 6% of the same demographic classified as obese. Through time Australia’s number in people suffering obesity has increased dramatically from 56.3% in 1995 to 61.2% in 2007-08. Compared to 1995, the proportion of Australians that were overweight in 2015 has fallen by 6%.

(Bell, 2012) .Obesity levels in Australia over the past few years have exceeded beyond a point where something needs to be done sooner rather than later. There are many reasons behind the rise in obesity levels in Australia such as the

Life expectancy for Australian’s has reached an all-time high. A male child born today, can expect to live an extra 2.36 years and 1.44 for females (Abs.gov.au, 2012). Although the expected length of life has skyrocketed, there are numerous health statistics that put Australia to shame. It has been estimated that by 2031, 3.3 million Australians will have been diagnosed with the incurable type 2 diabetes (Diabetesaustralia.com.au, 2013). Australia’s biggest killer, Coronary heart disease (CHD) was responsible for 13.6% of all Australian deaths recorded in 2012 (Abs.gov.au, 2012). One catalyst for CHD and Diabetes is Australia’s rising epidemic of obesity. During this report, obesity will be covered, and why is it a current health issue in

Data from the internet shows that obesity rates in Australia grew faster than any country in the world. World famous medical journal “The Lancet” published a study, according to Australian childhood obesity is close to 25%, adult as high as 63%. Now the Australian obesity levels have been compared with the United states, only slightly lower than that of New Zealand. Statistics shows that two out of every three adults are either overweight or obese. This is a cause for concern.

“Physical education hopes to accomplish, to engage all students, not just the athlete elite, in fun activities that will instill a lifelong commitment to fitness.” (Johnson, 264). Physical education in the classroom can be a vital steeping stone to the way that teenagers think about fitness. Lifelong fitness is something that everyone should be guaranteed, it mainly depends on the experience that a teenager has. Like many other subjects in school, the