A Queensland child born over the next 10 years could lose five years in life expectancy if the state’s current rate of obesity is not reduced, new modeling has found.
Key points:
- A child born in Queensland over the next decade is expected to have a shorter life than their parents
- Life expectancy could be shorter by up to five years for First Nations children and four years for non-Indigenous children
- Now, one in four Queensland children and adolescents are overweight or obese
The report, commissioned by state government agency Health and Wellbeing Queensland, shows the life expectancy of a child born in the decade from 2023 could decrease by between six months and 4.1 years in the general population.
For First Nations children born in Queensland, the shortened life expectancy could decrease by up to 5.1 years.
Lead researcher Rhema Vaithianathan said the projections were based on a scenario where nothing was done to prevent the current rising obesity rates among children.
“It is quite concerning, we might be facing the first generation of Queenslanders whose life expectancy is shorter than their parents,” she said.
“That kind of life expectancy reverses almost two decades of progress of life expectancy.”
She said the trajectory changed according to a range of factors including socio-economic status and geographical location.
About one in four Queensland children and adolescents are overweight or obese, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The report’s authors said there was also early evidence in Australia indicating that COVID-19 and lockdowns could have exacerbated childhood obesity.
Being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing chronic conditions that also increases mortality risk factors such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, dementia, diabetes and some cancers, according to the insititute.
With two-thirds of adults and one in four children overweight or living with obesity, excess weight is estimated to cost the state’s health system $756 million per year.
Changing the trajectory
It comes as Health and Wellbeing Queensland develops its obesity strategy and new programs targeting families and children.
The agency’s chief executive, Robyn Littlewood, said the report demonstrated a need for greater measures to protect the health of Queensland children and relieve the pressure on hospitals.
“It paints a grim picture of how children born next year will live a shorter life than their parents if obesity rates continue as they are,” she said.
Dr Littlewood said it would be “the challenge of a lifetime” but the research showed “we must try to get back to obesity rates of the 1970s – half of what they are today”.
Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council mayor and Torres Cape Indigenous Council Alliance chair, Robbie Sands, said everything must be done to prevent a shorter life expectancy for First Nations Australians.
“We’ve got a shorter life expectancy than anybody, any other community group in Australia,” he said.
“We need to make sure that we close the gap instead of widening it.”
He said some of the key solutions were addressing food security and raising awareness of lifestyle healthy choices in partnerships with Indigenous community-controlled health organizations and remote communities.
Dr Littlewood said the odds of having a healthy lifestyle were stacked against many Queenslanders.
She said environments that promoted unhealthy diets and obesity must change.
“Gaps in access to education, housing, healthy food and secure employment also start early, feeding a cycle of disadvantage and poor health,” Dr Littlewood said.
“Every Queensland child should have the best chance to live a healthier life — no matter who they are, or where they live.”
‘Daunting’ to new parents
Expectant mother Christina Kielenstyn, who is having her first child next year, said the reduced life expectancy was shocking.
“It came as a bit of a surprise to me that there’s all these extra measures in place but the health outcomes for kids are looking worse than for my generation and generations before me,” she said.
“It’s quite daunting, I think there are a lot of considerations as a new parent I need to start thinking about.
“It gets even harder when the kids are in school and there’s a bit of peer pressure from children around what they’re eating, and I can see that walking through the aisles of the grocery stores there’s a lot of marketing and branding on not- so-healthy foods.”
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