OH! Magazine - Australian Version June 2016

( Fitness & Motivation ) CHILDHOOD OBESITY MICHELLE BRIDGES Michelle Bridges shares her frustration and goals regarding childhood obesity. struggle a bit with childhood obesity; in fact, I struggle with a lot of things when it comes to this contentious topic. I I struggle with the assumption that it is all about children. It’s not really. It’s more about parents and families. The kids just respond to what’s going on around them, to the food that is available to them, that is advertised to them, that they are exposed to, and that is presented to their vulnerable senses. The same senses that have been hard-wired through the millennia to seek out high calorie nutrients that super-stimulates their taste buds, and their brains. I struggle with the ‘hood’ of ‘childhood’, which puts a temporal identity on the issue, that it all happens from birth to adolescence. It doesn’t. It starts at conception or even before, as we now know that overweight parents are significantly more likely to give birth to overweight babies. That the genetic predisposition to be overweight begins at the very beginning of a person’s life. Overfeeding babies and children brings forward the age at which they start to lay 10 JUNE 2016 ( OH! MAGAZINE ) down fat cells, and I struggle with that too. This results in a higher quantity of fat cells carried into adulthood, burdening overweight kids with extra fat cells that they will carry for the rest of their lives. I struggle with the junk food industry wriggling around self-regulation of TV advertising to kids. The Australian Food and Grocery Council claims that since the adoption of industry self-regulation in August 2009, TV junk food advertising to kids has been reduced. But a joint Australian Medical Association and Cancer Council study found that junk food advertising to kids had actually increased since then. Our government also manages to keep me awake at night. While preventative health is broadly on it’s agenda, it’s approach to junk food advertising could best be described as ‘vague’, to quote Dr Rhonda Jolly in a Parliamentary Library research paper published in January 2011. But my biggest struggle is with the blame game. It’s not about blame. Our childhood obesity crisis isn’t anyone’s fault specifically – and as long as we keep trying to make it someone’s fault, we’ll just keep arguing about it, and nothing will actually get done. It’s about responsibility. Whilst no one is to blame, we are all responsible. Government, parents, advertisers, manufacturers, commentators, educators, all play a role; and even at some level, our kids themselves. We just need, to collectively step up, accept responsibility, and start working together to find solutions. Michelle’s Tip Be a great example to kids, even if they’re not your own. Being responsible is just that – a way of being, not talking, preaching, or nagging – let’s just be role models. Let’s start by adopting healthy eating and exercise practices ourselves, as parents, teachers, family members or whoever. YOU CAN CONTACT MICHELLE VIA: Web: michellebridges.com.au Facebook: Mishy.Bridges Twitter: @mishbridges Instagram: @mishbridges

OH! Magazine - Australian Version June 2016 | Page 10