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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-02 Daily Xml
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DIABETES

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:32): On 2 April, an article in The Advertiser by Jordanna Schriever, with the heading 'Young too fat to breathe', talked about doctors having to remove tonsils because some young South Australian children are having trouble breathing. It noted obesity rather than tonsillitis was partly the reason for increased tonsillectomies, where 10 per cent of the children are obese and the operation is to improve breathing and assist with sleep problems.

It also noted that overweight parents were more likely to accept rather than address the weight problems of their children. Poor sleep caused by disordered breathing impacts on energy levels during the day, preventing the running around necessary to burn fat. The article states:

Overweight kids as young as 10 are also developing 'late onset' diabetes that normally afflicts the middle-aged and 36kg 'waddling' toddlers are also being treated for obesity.

As we know, May is juvenile diabetes month and we are encouraged to participate in activities to raise awareness. I know that I will be eating as many jelly babies as possible to assist, although the jelly baby is really only for attacks of hypo rather than hyper.

Some statistics on diabetes that might be interesting are that one in 20 pregnancies is affected by diabetes, that is, 44,000 women between 2005 and 2007, and that was this state; 4 per cent of Australians, that is, 898,000 Australians have diabetes, which is up by 1.5 per cent from the 1989 figure; Indigenous people outnumber white people or non-Indigenous people 3:1; 222,544 people began using insulin between 2000 and 2009; and $990 million, which is almost 2 per cent of the health budget, was spent on treating diabetes in 2004-05.

When you know that obesity can lead to juvenile diabetes, it is a real worry that toddlers as young as 18 months are being treated for obesity, with some two year olds weighing 36 kilograms, that is three times the recommended body weight, and some seven to eight year olds having hip operations because their weight has caused their hips to give way. This leads us to recognise the importance of diet and eating fresh food wherever we can, reducing the intake of sugary, refined and processed foods.

I note earlier in the year New York tried to put some sort of bill or regulation through to reduce the upsizing of food serves in fast-food outlets, which was eventually lost. This highlights the urgent public health message that we need to get out.

Our health is our greatest gift, and aside from the despair poor health brings with it, rising health costs is something we should all do everything we can to prevent against. It reminds me of a reference examined by the Social Development Committee some years ago, when we examined obesity and one of the conclusions we came to was that sugar is right up there with alcohol and tobacco as something that causes preventable disease.

Good diet from an early age, and even for pregnant mums to give their young and yet-to-be-born babies the best start in life is essential. Quick snacks are invariably the sorts of foods we can usually do without. Another article in The Advertiser, this one by Grant Jones on 3 April, headlined 'Chocolates beat pies for treats', talked about pies in convenience shops becoming the latest victims of 'cautious economic times'.

While the demise of the corner shop is a subject in and of itself to be lamented, and the quality of pies quite another subject altogether, it is the notion that a chocolate bar is now part of a lunch that is the worry for us all. The article mentions that, according to a BIS Shrapnel report:

Confectionery sales in convenience stores and petrol station shops have climbed 19 per cent since 2010, while sales of baked goods have fallen 9 per cent...

In particular, it speaks about buying confectionery at service stations, which we all know look more like lolly shops these days, with all sorts of specials on chocolates, lollies, ice creams, drinks, and even biscuits. Staff are instructed and expected to prompt sales. In winter, we are all familiar with the wall of chocolate biscuits lined up at the checkout, although they seem not to have found a way to do that on the self-serve checkouts at the moment.

The recent spate of cooking shows needs to be used to encourage quick, healthy options, and in my own small way, with speeches on the benefits of broccoli and wholegrain bread, it is going to be leading by example that helps us to promote healthy eating. Of course, calisthenics comes into the activity side of the equation.

Increased activity levels also help. This leads to my challenge, which is (along with eating only a small amount of jelly babies this month) to ask everybody in this building to take the stairs whenever you can. In Florey in particular, I would like to commend the Mall Walkers at Tea Tree Plaza. They are up every Tuesday and Thursday, I think it is now, and they are certainly doing their bit to keep people active and healthy. Even on the cold mornings coming up now, I urge members to consider a brisk walk in the fresh morning air; there is nothing like it to clear your mind and get the day started in the best possible way.

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