May 26, 2022
Fat study going in right direction
Our children are getting thinner – and researchers want to know why.
University of Otago research fellow Lisa Daniels says a long-running study of obesity amongst 4-year-olds has found a recurring weight decline across all ethnicities and economic backgrounds – including a 3 per cent decrease in obesity among tamariki Māori, from 21 per cent to 18 per cent.
But 30 per cent of children still carry more weight than is healthy, which can persist into adulthood with long term negative effects.
“We really do need to approach this from a young age so we can work on prevention strategies earlier to prevent obesity from continuing into adulthood. We don’t fully understand why the declines are happening and that is going to be really important to help us work on future interventions,”
Dr Danielssays.
She’s now looking at children younger than four, and also the effects of falling rates of breastfeeding.