In response to growing concerns about childhood obesity in the UK, Public Health England has created a new role to drive the charge for improving the health of preschool children.
The new Child Obesity Programme Manager for the Early Years will be responsible for 'giving every child the best start in life and to increase the number of primary school children who are at a 'healthy weight'.
Health psychologist Anna Lucas has been hired into the new position and her role will be to work closely with early years settings, schools, primary care and health professionals to support measures that help families bring up their children with a 'healthy weight'. This includes dietary information and advice on exercise and physical activity guidelines.
Ms Lucas said one in five kids arrive at the English version of kindergarten overweight or obese and many of these children will not return to a healthy weight by the time they leave secondary school.
"We know from research that adults struggle to spot when a child is overweight as there are now so many more people who are obese that it is seen as the norm," she said.
This begs the question is Australia doing enough to address early childhood obesity and to support families who lack the information to make healthier choices for their children.
The Government has a range of resources available to help early childhood settings teach children about making healthier choices in terms of eating and exercise, such as the Get Up and Grow guidelines.
Although these guidelines fit in with the EYLF and NQS they still require early childhood providers to take an active role in learning about them and applying them in their setting and is this enough to protect the physical health and wellbeing of young Australians?
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Is the government doing enough to prevent obesity in early childhood?
