injuryupdate
11-03-2006, 10:25 AM
From Friday's SMH - a bit of a worry!
Exercise ruled out for overweight children who can barely move
By Julie Robotham Medical Editor
March 10, 2006, SMH
Obese children's bodies are under so much stress from their excess weight that they cannot even stand up properly, a world-first NSW study that examined the limb functions of the heaviest children has shown.
The group of 43 eight-year-olds, who weighed 40 kilograms on average, typically took almost four seconds to rise from a low chair - compared with one to two seconds for children with a normal weight of about 28 kilograms.
They were obliged to rock back and forth to gain enough momentum to stand, had more difficulty balancing once they were upright, and most had to be briefly assisted as they transferred their weight to their feet, according to the University of Wollongong researchers who published their results this week in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity.
The study leader, Julie Steele, the head of the university's Biomechanics Research Laboratory, said the findings showed it might not be realistic simply to instruct overweight children to exercise more.
"They have flatter feet, collapsed arches … We think they're just more uncomfortable all the time. There are all these programs to help them lose weight, but it's the everyday life activities these kids are struggling with."
Teachers and carers needed to be more sympathetic to the children's plight.
"Would you feel like running round the block when you were pregnant?" Professor Steele said. Overweight children instead should be taught "how to use the body most efficiently, so you can do everyday tasks comfortably".
Louise Baur, a consultant pediatrician at the Children's Hospital at Westmead who contributed to the research, said very overweight children might benefit from special training in how to walk, stand and sit to compensate for their altered centre of gravity.
"It's a real disability," she said. "It's by no means purely a cosmetic issue. There are real functional limitations here and now."
The children's difficulties were so severe that they were likely to be discouraged from moving, said Professor Baur, perpetuating their weight problems.
Preventing children from becoming overweight was critically important, she said, but there were now so many excessively heavy children that professionals also needed to focus on how best to care for them and accommodate their needs.
Separate research reveals Australia's childhood obesity epidemic is gaining pace faster even than that of the United States. Only New Zealand, Canada and the former East Germany are adding more rapidly to the proportion of children deemed overweight or obese, according to analysis published in the same journal.
Up to a quarter of Australian children weigh too much, according to the most recent national statistics, from 1995. But smaller surveys conducted since then suggest one-third or more may have a weight problem, and that obesity is affecting progressively younger age groups.
Exercise ruled out for overweight children who can barely move
By Julie Robotham Medical Editor
March 10, 2006, SMH
Obese children's bodies are under so much stress from their excess weight that they cannot even stand up properly, a world-first NSW study that examined the limb functions of the heaviest children has shown.
The group of 43 eight-year-olds, who weighed 40 kilograms on average, typically took almost four seconds to rise from a low chair - compared with one to two seconds for children with a normal weight of about 28 kilograms.
They were obliged to rock back and forth to gain enough momentum to stand, had more difficulty balancing once they were upright, and most had to be briefly assisted as they transferred their weight to their feet, according to the University of Wollongong researchers who published their results this week in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity.
The study leader, Julie Steele, the head of the university's Biomechanics Research Laboratory, said the findings showed it might not be realistic simply to instruct overweight children to exercise more.
"They have flatter feet, collapsed arches … We think they're just more uncomfortable all the time. There are all these programs to help them lose weight, but it's the everyday life activities these kids are struggling with."
Teachers and carers needed to be more sympathetic to the children's plight.
"Would you feel like running round the block when you were pregnant?" Professor Steele said. Overweight children instead should be taught "how to use the body most efficiently, so you can do everyday tasks comfortably".
Louise Baur, a consultant pediatrician at the Children's Hospital at Westmead who contributed to the research, said very overweight children might benefit from special training in how to walk, stand and sit to compensate for their altered centre of gravity.
"It's a real disability," she said. "It's by no means purely a cosmetic issue. There are real functional limitations here and now."
The children's difficulties were so severe that they were likely to be discouraged from moving, said Professor Baur, perpetuating their weight problems.
Preventing children from becoming overweight was critically important, she said, but there were now so many excessively heavy children that professionals also needed to focus on how best to care for them and accommodate their needs.
Separate research reveals Australia's childhood obesity epidemic is gaining pace faster even than that of the United States. Only New Zealand, Canada and the former East Germany are adding more rapidly to the proportion of children deemed overweight or obese, according to analysis published in the same journal.
Up to a quarter of Australian children weigh too much, according to the most recent national statistics, from 1995. But smaller surveys conducted since then suggest one-third or more may have a weight problem, and that obesity is affecting progressively younger age groups.