A new study which looks at how to reverse the trend of childhood obesity in Australia has come up with a formula labelled as “simplistic” by a Border dietician.
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The research, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, found overweight children should aim for a daily energy deficit of 0.42 MJ/day.
It is predicted more than 60 per cent of overweight or obese children would return to a normal weight within 15 months by doing so.
Border dietician Kerryn O'Brien said she doesn't agree with a focus on calories and said each child is different.
“Children fluctuate, their appetite fluctuates and so does their physical activity,” she said.
“Weight loss isn’t that adapt, you cant just put a formula in and make it work.
“You have to take into account genetics and family history.
“They are just calculations which are a suggestion.
“You have to teach child to control their appetite, determine whether they are really hungry and to be active.”
The survey sampled more than 31,000 school children aged between four-and-a-half and 15 between 2001 to 2011.
It included factors such as body mass index, body fat percentage and cardio respiratory fitness.
It found a small energy intake surplus built up overtime leading to obesity.
The study shows 71.6 per cent of children fell into the normal weight range, 3.8 per cent were underweight, 18 per cent overweight and 6.6 per cent obese.
In the past 40 years, childhood obesity has risen from 7.5 per cent to about 25 per cent.