“ Type 2 Diabetes is a particular concern as there is a global trend of increasing numbers of young people being diagnosed, there is limited data available in Australia but anecdotally numbers are rising rapidly amongst young Indigenous Australians.
Childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes leads to other serious health issues such as kidney disease which then puts a huge burden on families, communities and health facilities. When it occurs at a young age, it is a much more aggressive disease than in older people.
It is critical that we act now to prevent this emerging public health issue, with engagement of Indigenous communities in the design of interventions being crucial.
“A suite of interventions across the life course are required, targeting children and young people before they develop disease, particularly childhood obesity, as well as targeting their parents to prevent intergenerational transmission of metabolic risk”
Dr Angela Titmuss, paediatric endocrinologist at Royal Darwin Hospital and Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) PhD student : See Press Release Part 1
Read over 150 Aboriginal Health and Diabetes articles published by NACCHO over past 7 years
Read over 70 Aboriginal Health and Obesity articles published by NACCHO over past 7 years
” The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey shows that previous efforts to combat obesity have had limited success.
Two-thirds of adults and a quarter of children aged from five to 17 years are now overweight or obese.
While the rate for children has been stable for 10 years, the proportion of adults who are not just overweight but obese has risen from 27.9 per cent to 31.3 per cent.
Overweight and obesity not only compromise quality of life, they are strongly linked to preventable chronic diseases—heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, certain cancers, depression and arthritis, among others.
Senator McKenzie #ObesitySummit19 See Press Release Part 2 Below
Researchers are calling for immediate action to reduce risk the of obesity and diabetes in Indigenous children and young people.
A suite of interventions across the life course are required, targeting children and young people before they develop disease, particularly childhood obesity, as well as targeting their parents to prevent intergenerational transmission of metabolic risk.
The in utero period and first 5 years of life are influential in terms of the long term risk of chronic disease, and we propose that identifying and improving childhood metabolic health be a targeted priority of health services.
In an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) today, researchers have identified childhood obesity and the increasing numbers of young people being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes as emerging public health issues.
Lead author Dr Angela Titmuss, paediatric endocrinologist at Royal Darwin Hospital and Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) PhD student, says in the MJA Perspective article that collaboration between communities, clinicians and researchers across Australia is needed to get an accurate picture of the numbers involved.
In Indigenous Australian young people with type 2 diabetes, there are also higher rates of comorbidities, with 59% also having hypertension, 24% having dyslipidaemia and 61% having obesity.3
These comorbidities will have a significant impact on the future burden of disease, and may lead to renal, cardiac, neurological and ophthalmological complications. Canadian data demonstrated that 45% of patients with youth onset type 2 diabetes had reached end‐stage renal failure, requiring renal replacement therapy, 20 years after diagnosis, compared with zero people with type 1 diabetes.9
Youth onset type 2 diabetes was associated with a 23 times higher risk of kidney failure and 39 times higher risk of need for dialysis, compared with young people without diabetes.9
This implies that many young people who are being diagnosed with diabetes now will be on dialysis by 30 years of age, with significant effects on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities.
Menzies HOT NORTH project is supporting this research through the Diabetes in Youth collaboration, a Northern Australia Tropical Disease Collaborative Research Program, funded by the NHMRC.
The MJA Article is available here
Comprehensive strategies, action plans and both funding and better communication across sectors (health, education, infrastructure and local government) and departments are required to address obesity, diabetes and metabolic risk among Indigenous young people in Australia.
It requires a radical rethinking of our current approach which is failing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and communities, and a commitment to reconsider the paradigm, to be open to innovative approaches and the involvement of multiple sectors
Part 2
I again apologise for any offence taken by the unfortunate photo taken out of context at the Obesity Summit on Friday, and I am happy if my ridicule leads to action on the complex issue of obesity in this country.
The Senator has apologised.
The issue of obesity is a matter I take very seriously and would never triavisie it- or to add in any way to stigmatisation. I sincerely apologise for this very unfortunate photo taken as I demonstrated how my stomach felt after scrambled eggs reacted w yogurt I had just eaten.
That is exactly the reason I called international and Australian experts together for the National Obesity Summit last week
Last October, the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) Health Council— comprising federal, state and territory ministers—agreed to develop a national strategy on obesity.
Friday’s National Obesity Summit in Canberra represented an important first step towards a new nationally cohesive strategy on obesity prevention and control.
The Summit focussed on the role of physical activity, primary health care clinicians, educators and governments to work collaboratively rather than in silos.
At the Summit we heard from national and global experts because obesity is an international issue and we need to understand how other jurisdictions are tackling the problem. We also heard that stigma surrounding obesity can be a barrier to help being accessed.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey shows that previous efforts to combat obesity have had limited success.
Two-thirds of adults and a quarter of children aged from five to 17 years are now overweight or obese.
While the rate for children has been stable for 10 years, the proportion of adults who are not just overweight but obese has risen from 27.9 per cent to 31.3 per cent.
Overweight and obesity not only compromise quality of life, they are strongly linked to preventable chronic diseases—heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, certain cancers, depression and arthritis, among others.
We know that there is not one simple solution to tackling the problem so we need to examine all options and develop a multi-faceted approach.
The Obesity Summit represented an important moment for Australians’ health and recognised that there is no magic fat-busting policy pill.