A collaborative study between researchers at the University of Sydney and Australian National University has highlighted some of the challenges parents face in keeping their children healthy.
Approximately one in five young Australian children are affected by overweight and obesity, which places a sizeable strain on healthcare services now and in the future.
Preventing weight issues from developing can have a positive impact on health, not only during childhood years but also when individuals become adults.
Tackling childhood obesity can save millions of dollars for public health systems through preventing the development of conditions such as diabetes, stroke and cardiac disease later in life.
Dr Vicki Brown, senior research fellow in health economics at Deakin University’s Institute for Health Transformation, says the study provides stakeholders in Australian healthcare with some invaluable insights.
“It’s really important we understand what parents and caregivers want when we’re designing and implementing programmes to improve the health of children,” Dr Brown said.
“In the context of preventing overweight and obesity in children, our new study found that the top preference for parents are initiatives supporting them in healthier diets.
“Lower down on the priority list were initiatives resulting in healthier physical activity behaviours, wellbeing and healthy growth.
“When we asked about costs, parents and caregivers preferred less costly, universal child healthy lifestyle initiatives, but did show awareness that decisions about prioritising different programmes have to be made in healthcare.”
Australia already has a head start in tackling the issue of obesity having embraced the concept of telehealth as a support tool for delivering better healthcare outcomes.
Many of the reputable providers featured on https://medicompare.com.au/ connect Australians with medical professionals for personalised treatment, prescriptions and ongoing support.
Those services can be crucial in helping to tackle the issue of obesity, particularly for families who live in rural or remote communities in Australia.
A recent retrospective study of a virtually‐delivered obesity care programme found that users lost eight percent of their body weight on average in 12 months.
Participants’ weight loss increased significantly with programme engagement, which demonstrates the value of telehealth services in treating weight loss.
A previous study described obesity in Australia as a’ ticking timebomb’ and claimed it has overtaken tobacco as the biggest cause of preventable disease burden.
Dr Brown says that the next phase of the research will focus on understanding childhood health initiatives from the perspective of decision makers, including federal, state and local government officials.
“We’re working towards being able to provide health care decision-makers with online, interactive decision support tools which bring together all of the evidence regarding what we know works, how and for who,” Dr Brown added. “When we can align parental preferences with the rollout of policies and programmes, that’s when we’re likely to see a real impact in preventing childhood overweight and o
