Handbury Lecture reveals obesity as millennium disease
21 May 2007
Obesity in the new Millennium has exposed the Myth of Puppy Fat, Professor Louise Baur told the capacity audience at this year’s Handbury Lecture.
Continuing the tradition of attracting world-class medical professionals to the annual Handbury Lecture at Hamilton Base Hospital, Prof Baur engaged the audience when she delivered her presentation - “Obesity, Tackling the Millennium Disease”.
Professor Baur is one of Australia’s leading researchers into overweight and obesity, and is an exceptionally skilled and respected member of the medical profession. She holds a number of other roles specialising in obesity, particularly paediatric obesity.
Introducing Prof Baur, Western District Health Service Chief Executive Officer Mr Jim Fletcher said she was recognised internationally for her expertise on paediatric obesity.
“She is co-chair of the International Obesity Taskforce Working Group on Childhood Obesity and co-edited the group’s reports to the World Health Organisation on Childhood Obesity,” he said.
Prof Baur is Chair of the Board of Directors of the NSW Centre for Overweight and Obesity, Consultant Paediatrician and Specialist in Clinical Nutrition at the Childrens’ Hospital at Westmead and the Co-Director of Weight Management Services at Westmead.
Prof Baur said that childhood obesity was a problem in the present, not just a precursor for problems as an adult.“There is the Myth of Puppy Fat – the truth is the child won’t necessarily grow out of it. Obesity is the 21st Century epidemic.
”She challenged the audience to consider how they would react to a disease which affected increasing numbers of the population, decreased quality of life, increased disability and shortened life expectancy, had a high economic burden, was globally prevalent and a significant contributor to death from other major diseases.
This was associated with stigmatization, media voyeurism and victim-blaming by the community in which they live.“Welcome to the issue of obesity” she said.
She said there was a strong genetic predisposition to overweight and obesity, but it was only manifest in a given environment, which resulted in a chronic energy imbalance – energy intake exceeding energy output.
Data has shown that an increasing consumption of take away food and confectionary has been matched with increasing passive leisure activities such as computer games and greater reliance on the car for travel to school and work.
“With The rise in home TV, video, DVD, Playstation and IT use by children, why would a child want to go outdoors?” Prof Baur said.
She said healthy lifestyle choices for families and children were difficult in 21st century Australia.
“The proliferation of fast food outlets and the impact of food marketing have meant that in the early 21st century the unhealthy choices around food and physical activity are the easy choices,” she said.
Positive changes in school canteens, public promotion of healthy eating, urban planning which incorporates play and public spaces and after-school activity programs have been introduced to make healthy choices easier.
But areas which still need to be tackled to combat childhood obesity are food marketing to children, strategies to promote active transport, strategies to improve availability, and decrease cost of healthy food choices and funding of, and coordinated approach to health service delivery for obese patients
CAPTION: Handbury Lecture speaker Professor Louise Baur, WDHS board president Richard Walter and Geoff Handbury at this year’s Handbury Lecture.