Interactions between low-socioeconomic status, adult influences on macronutrient intakes and childhood obesity

Interactions between low-socioeconomic status, adult influences on macronutrient intakes and childhood obesity

Australia as a developed country has 60% of adults and one in four (25%) children identified as overweight or obese. In 2014–15, 63.4% of Australians adults (aged 18 years and over) were classified as overweight or obese (11.2 million people), with 35.5% overweight (6.3 million people) and 27.9% obese (4.9 million people). The remainder of the population were identified mainly as normal weight (35.0%), with 1.6% of the population as underweight. The prevalence of overweight and obese children aged 5–17 years was 25.3% in 2011–12.1 Additionally, the Australian Health Survey (2011–12) revealed that in the four-year period starting from 2007–08 there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of children (aged 5–14) overweight or obese (23% in 2007–08 and 26% in 2011–12). This study provides an empirical demonstration of the impact that adult influence has on a child’s chances of becoming obese through diet habit as well as the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Australian children of low socioeconomic status.