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Aussie study finds link between social disadvantage, childhood obesity

SYDNEY, March 22 (Xinhua) -- A new study led by the University of Sydney has flagged childhood obesity as largely a by-product of socioeconomic status, suggesting that immediate fixes such as diet and exercise programs may not be effective enough.

Published in BMC Medicine journal on Tuesday, the study utilized a nationally representative sample of approximately 10,000 Australian children and employed modeling to identify and target "on-ramps" to the disease.

The research showed that children whose parents did not complete high school and who live with social disadvantages were more likely to be affected by overweight or obesity in mid-adolescence. High school completion is also a strong indicator of socioeconomic status.

The researchers stated that these factors lead to the influence of the body mass index (BMI) of parents, in turn providing immediate lifestyle impacts, such as diet and sedentary time on a child's risk of developing obesity.

Louise Baur, co-author and professor at the University of Sydney, said the research explains why most current public health policies to prevent childhood obesity have had limited success.

"We tend to ignore the root causes of childhood obesity which include social disadvantage, and of course, this is not something parents or children choose for themselves," she said, adding that "while healthy eating and activity interventions are important, the solutions lie not just in the domain of health departments."

The research also revealed that for children below the age of eight, birth weight and parents' BMI were the most influential factors for explaining child BMI, while free time activity became an important factor of obesity after the age of eight.

The research noted interventions aimed at improving socioeconomic status, such as increasing high school completion rates, may improve the chances of reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity.