2007 Jul - Sep News Archive

Spring is here and it is a great time to get walking. Walktober runs through the whole month of October and aims to get adults and children up and walking. More...

The power of pester

Our childhood obesity rate is among the highest in the world. About a quarter of our kids are overweight or obese, and that percentage is increasing year by year. We also have more junk food ads per hour of television than any other country in the world. Is there a link? More...

Shrek top of the junk food hit list

Shrek is top of the hit list for a group of health-conscious parents who say the animated character is encouraging children to pester for junk food. More...

Food companies reach out to children

Mareketing of foods to children has become big business. Many industries now see schools as the new frontier. More...

The importance of physical education for kids

The Australian Principles Association has called for Primary School Curriculum to be changed from eight learning areas to four core subjects. One of the subjects likely to be dropped is physical education. More...

Parents throw tantrum over food

Helena isn't old enough to know what's good for her, but the three-year-old certainly knows what she likes. More...

Obese children become paradoxical problem

It is a perverse paradox. Children starving themselves to death under the same roof as those who are eating their way to an early grave. While the Royal Children's Hospital struggles to cope with rising admissions for anorexia, it is also dealing with unprecedented demand at its obesity management clinic. More...

Howard mails healthy eating tips to kids

The Federal Government's latest advertising blitz is targeting fat children. Prime Minister John Howard today said the Government would spend $3 million on 1.9 million fridge magnets for school children which carry ten tips for healthy eating and regular exercise. More...

Study predicts 75 percent overweight in U.S. by 2015

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If people keep gaining weight at the current rate, fat will be the norm by 2015, with 75 percent of U.S. adults overweight and 41 percent obese, U.S. researchers predicted on Wednesday. More...

Call for Wiggles to help in obesity battle

The Wiggles should teach toddlers healthy eating habits, bosses should give maternity leave to encourage breastfeeding and children should be weighed and measured, under a major plan to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic. More...

Tax sugary cereal, health lobby urges

Junk-food advertisements should be banned from television and sugary breakfast cereals slugged with GST in the same way cakes and other luxury food items are, obesity health campaigners have argued. More...

Review of toy offers with food

The Australian Communications and Media Authority may consider banning television advertisements that use toys to market junk food to children. More...

Junk Food Injunction - Winter 07

Download the latest edition of Junk Food Injunction from the Cancer Council NSW. More...

One in five Queensland kids overweight

More than one in five Queensland children are overweight or obese, new figures show. The first study of child health in Queensland since 1995 has found the state is experiencing an epidemic of unhealthy, overweight children. More...

Why junking pester power ads may do a fat lot of good

Advertising is not making us fat - the advertisers have told us so. More...

Safety fears as child obesity war shifts to gyms

As the childhood obesity crisis worsens, more parents of overweight kids are turning to gym instructors for help, prompting calls for guidelines to ensure the safety of children using equipment designed for adults. More...

Labor plan to teach healthy eating

Children at almost 200 primary schools would learn how to make healthy meals from food they grow themselves under a federal Labor plan to tackle childhood obesity. More...

Fewer junk food ads on children's telly

The commercial television networks have finally acknowledged that children are watching less television and that junk food advertisers are drifting away from the medium. More...

Australia the unhealthy nation

Australia has become a nation of sloths with most people either eating poorly or exercising inadequately, a report has found. More...

Rudd targets junk food ads

A Labor government would ban the use of licensed characters such as Shrek to market food and drinks to children as part of a plan to tackle childhood obesity. More...

Children caught in web of junk food promotion

Parents fighting childhood obesity must compete with clever and pervasive junk food marketing pitched directly at young children, according to an independent study conducted for The Cancer Council Australia. More...

Simplicity sparks imagination

A cardboard box may pale in comparison to a merry-go-round or the more complex children's play equipment, but according to a new study, simple "loose parts" such as a box or crate can encourage increased levels of creativity and physical activity among children. More...