Shabar Thomas YR 10
PDHPE: Healthy Food Habits
1. Explain how the dietary guidelines are linked into good health. 7 marks
Guideline 1 refers to maintain a healthy weight and to be physically active. It encourages choosing nutritious foods and drinks that will meet the energy needs of the consumer. For this guideline it suggests that children and adolescents should eat sufficient nutritious foods and adults should eat nutritious foods. This guideline links to good health at is suggesting that the consumer should eat amounts of food that you can burn off through exercise and to only consume food if it will be used for energy for physical activity, this guideline is based on physical exercise for adults it aims to maintain strong and allows the consumer to have a healthy weight and for children it is aiming to support growth and development. Guideline 2 refers to eating a wide variety of nutritious foods from the main five food groups of vegetables, fruit, grains, meat, and dairy. This allows consumers to have a guide of what foods from the food groups to be eaten. This links to good health as it suggesting to consume food from the 5 food groups that have the highest nutrition and are the best for good health. Guideline 3 refers to limit a consumer’s intake of foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol. This relates to good health at it is suggesting to the consumer to limit foods in saturated fats such as biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed meats, commercial burgers, pizza, fried foods, potato chips to reduce of getting the disorders that these foods can lead to, it suggests to Replace high fat foods which contain predominantly saturated fats with foods which contain predominantly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats this links to good health as it suggesting the consumer should keep fats in their diet but the healthy ones rather than the bad ones. It also suggests to Limit intake of foods and drinks containing added salt, Limit intake of foods and drinks containing added sugars and an alcohol, limit intake these all relate to good health as it getting the consumers to steer away for many disorders these can lead to. Guideline 4 refers to Encouraging supporting and promoting breastfeeding this links to good health as it is help newborns extend nutrition in addition the milk is packed with disease-fighting substances that protect the baby from illness. Guideline 5 refers to Caring for your food; prepare and store it safely, this relates to good health as bacteria can easily spread causing illness such as food poisoning. In conclusion all of these guidelines are targeted at promoting health, reducing obesity, and protecting against the major chronic disease killers of heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
(b) Evaluate the guidelines, are they successful in tackling obesity in Australia?
I believe that these guidelines were not successful as 60% of Australian adults and 25% of children still overweight or obese. I believe these guidelines have not been successful due to their lack of advertising, the government has made all these guidelines but the Australian public fails to see them due to the lack of advertising of them Professor Colagiuri said "This report basically underlines that we're not getting the message across. We need to help people to better understand the food that they're eating," adding that most Australians would probably be surprised to find they were not meeting dietary recommendations. Research from 2004 found that only a third of middle-aged Australian women met at least half of the dietary guidelines, and from a total of 10,561 women surveyed, only two met all 13 guidelines this shows that dietary guidelines currently are more aspirational, than attainable for most people. Also the guideline has some information which is incorrect such as The benefits of dairy are overstated. They state that the evidence base has strengthened for the association between the consumption of milk and decreased risk of heart disease. This seems completely wrong, with the most recent review of the evidence showing milk to be neutral. My judgment is that these guidelines were extremely unsuccessful and it needs to be updated and advertised.
2. Analyse the social determinants of young people that can lead to obesity? (5.6) 10 marks
Social determinates of young people to lead to obesity include Family, education and living area. A family’s eating patterns can have a major influence on whether a child maintains a healthy weight. Some overweight parents may be less concerned about their children also being overweight rather than parents who have a healthy weight. The income of the family has a massive impact of the weight of the child if the family is making a low income often they will buy the cheapest food possible for the family which if often lacking nutrients needed to grow and high in fat causing the child to gain weight. Children learn by their parent’s preferences, intake and willingness to try new foods. It has also been found that mealtime structure has a major influences of child obesity evidence suggesting that families who eat together consume healthy foods whilst eating out or watching TV while eating is associated with a higher intake of fat parents who work late will have this issue with their family. The types of food available in the house and the food preferences of family members can influence the foods that children eat. Studies have shown that having an overweight mother and living in a single parent household are associated with overweight and childhood obesity. Education of food is a very important factor to child obesity. It is important for the child them self to know what they are putting in their body. Children and adolescents should eat sufficient nutritious foods to grow and develop normally. They should be physically active every day and their growth should be checked regularly. When young people don’t know what foods to eat it become a problem and can lead to obesity. When a child in not education in areas of food they tend to eat whatever as they don’t know what they are putting into their bodies and don not know the effects of it. Living area is a important factor, children who live in unsafe areas or who do not have access to safe, well-lit walking routes have fewer opportunities to be physically active, While extensive television viewing and the use of other electronic media has contributed to the sedentary lifestyles, other environmental factors have reduced the opportunities for physical activity. Opportunities to be physically active and safe environments to be active in have decreased. Also children who live in poorer areas of areas not along the coast have very different food access and food trends. For example, living along the coast healthy eating and exercise is promoted and has also higher living price whilst out west where it is cheaper to live they have more fast foods and cheaper less healthy food stores.
3. Evaluate the following statement, " The consequences of a poor diet is placing an increasing burden on our health care system". Ensure you use specific examples. (5.6 and 5.16) 10 marks
Australian Government will confront major challenges in the funding and delivery of health care due to disease caused from poor diet. The annual costs from obesity already add up to A$830 million in Australia alone. The consequences of poor diet increasingly burden the health care system. An average Australian is expected to live 73 years of healthy life but this is changed due to the increasing disability from chronic illness. Chronic illnesses, such as diabetes create a significant and growing burden of mortality, morbidity and health care costs. The federal Treasury’s intergenerational report for the financial year 2002–03 concluded that “ageing of the population will have only a small effect on spending” However, the chronic diseases pose both medical and managerial challenges. The total annual cost for Australians with type 2 diabetes around $6 billion including healthcare costs and the cost of careers and Commonwealth government subsidies. The average annual healthcare cost per person with diabetes is $4,025 and can rise too $9,645.Chronic diseases are responsible for nine out of every ten deaths in Australia. Chronic diseases reduce quality of life and functioning abilities. Thing such such as Mental health conditions, respiratory diseases such as asthma and musculoskeletal conditions can come out of these diseases costing more money for our health care system Chronic diseases are the major driver of health system costs. Chronic diseases generate billions of dollars in avoidable health expenditure every year. The Business Council of Australia has estimated that if chronic diseases were totally eliminated, workforce productivity could increase by 10 per cent. An estimate has found that with out these illnesses a savings of about $2.3 billion could be saved by reducing these six risk factors obesity, inadequate diet, physical inactivity, smoking, high risk alcohol use and intimate partner violence. This would also benefit workforce participation and productivity meaning that health care would spend more time on people who need their time with illness that are more serous and cannot be prevented earlier in life Australia is a wealthy country with one of the longest life expectancies in the world. However, our failure to prevent the growing burden of chronic diseases threatens the future economic prosperity and the probability of healthy life expectancies
4. Australia is currently in the middle of an obesity epidemic, Justify a minimum of 3 approaches the Government can put in place to reduce the problem? (5.16 and 5.12) 10 marks
More sport in school would result in less obesity rate in young children handling the problem of obesity earlier Participating
in sports or other forms of physical activity can help children maintain a healthy
weight. Sports provide opportunities to regularly engage in moderate to vigorous
physical activity, and can help to prevent conditions and diseases associated with
physical inactivity and being overweight or obese. The government should make it mandatory for sport in school hours to help slow down these rates of obesity. It has been found that participation in high school sports reduces the risk of childhood obesity because it involves regular practices and competitions that require moderate to strenuous activity levels. Schools should offer a wide variety of sports in school and make it mandatory for all students. Money is a major factor in Austrians rising obesity rates, sport is very expensive and often poorer families can’t afford to put their kids in these sport leading to obesity. A resolution to this issue is the government to create free sporting programs for the youth in all comminutes so kids can play sport. Things such as netball, soccer or basketball comps could be put in place to encourage and be beneficial to the poorer family’s kids to play sport. This would help slow down the rates of childhood obesity by keeping them fit and healthy. A sugar tax on Australia is highly beneficial for Australia’s future and its obesity rates. A sugary drinks tax is by no means a solution to the obesity crisis and would only ever establish part of a larger approach. The extent to which it falls on the unfortunate varies on how the tax is developed and the different ways that rich and poor people respond to it. For example, a tax on high-sugar organic yogurt will probably affect the rich more than a tax on cheap fizzy drinks. Similarly, if the poor are more likely to switch from buying taxed goods to relatively cheaper and healthier, untaxed goods then they will suffer less of the financial problem. To help and support low-income families struggling to make healthier choices, the sugar tax is a seamless recommendation. Health seminars are a great way of raising general health awareness and promoting healthy habits. If seminars are put in schools and all communities around Australia this educates people who may not know very much about food and encourage them to eat health helping reduce risks of obesity. Seminar’s could include things such as about balancing work and family time, common childhood health issues, maintaining good mental health, and healthy habits for the whole family an introduction to food variety and physical activity. This will help Australians understand what it means to be healthy and given the opportunity to learn about the Australian dietary guidelines and how to develop and maintain healthy eating and exercise habits for better health. Seminars can be put in the workplace, school and community centers