QUEENSLAND doctors’ reluctance to tell parents that their child is overweight is preventing referrals to a multimillion-dollar childhood obesity program.
The Australian Medical Association says the PEACH Program (Parenting, Eating and Activity for Child Health), a free service aimed at families of primary school children, is the only childhood obesity program that actually works.
The association’s Queensland president Shaun Rudd believes the reason there have been almost no GP referrals to the $5 million program since its launch in 2013 is because GPs find it too difficult to raise the topic of childhood obesity.
“The parent-led PEACH program is the only prevention program with evidence that it works,” he said.
“So GPs need to get better at having these difficult conversations.”
In Australia, overweight and obesity rates in children have doubled over the past 30 years and one in four Queensland children is above their healthy weight – 150,000 of them primary school kids.
As a new series of courses is rolled out in the next few weeks at 16 locations, PEACH program director Lynne Daniels is hoping for more support from health professionals.
“I would like to see GPs weigh and measure children and talk about the program with those families who have children above the healthy weight range,” said Prof Daniels, who is also the head of QUT’s Exercise and Nutrition Sciences School.
The program will begin after the school holidays.
Amanda Swords, 22, has struggled with her weight for years and wishes she had more support while at school. Picture: Liam Kidston Source: News Corp Australia
Amanda Swords has always struggled with her weight and the 22-year-old said she wished she had been exposed to a program such as PEACH while at school.
“It’s not easy being larger when you are at school,” the Brisbane woman said.
“I wish I had been given the chance to take part in a program in my early primary years that would have offered me support on how to be smarter with food and exercise. I think it would have put me on a very different path.”
Ms Swords said she was 112kg at her heaviest but was now down to 99kg.
“Early intervention perhaps would have stopped me getting bigger and bigger,” she said.
“I have recently lost 12kg and am going to keep going until I feel just right.”
Contact the PEACH program on 1800 263 5191800 263 519 FREE or register at peachqld.com.au