Weigh students to monitor obesity: professor
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Professor Swinburn says schools should be weighing students (file photo). (ABC News: Cate Grant, file photo)
A health expert has called on the State Government to launch a comprehensive program to monitor childhood obesity.
Professor of Population Health at Deakin University, Boyd Swinburn, says no state or federal government in Australia has done a comprehensive survey of the weight of children in the past 17 years.
He says it is impossible for governments to know whether they have developed appropriate policies which are addressing the problem.
Professor Swinburn says Western Australian schools should be weighing every student and informing parents if their children are overweight or obese.
"If you don't measure it, you can't act on it, you don't know where the hot spots are," he said.
"For example, if we're worried about the road toll then we measure it on a regular basis and we find out where the blackspots are and that's where attention goes. We find out whether we're going up or down, whether policies or programs make any difference."
Regular surveys
The Minister for Education, Mark McGowan, says the Health Department does regular surveys on the health and wellbeing of adults and children.
He says the government is taking action rather than spending time and money monitoring the problem.
"The time for more talking and more analysis is over, it's now the time for action and the State Government is doing its bit through healthy canteens and compulsory sport at school," he said.
"Families need to do their bit and make sure they have healthy meals at home and kids get out and do some exercise."
