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From Waikato Times?..

It?s better to measure how fast a child can run 50 metres than weigh and measure every child at school in an effort to tackle childhood obesity, a Kiwi nutritionist says.

The move is being touted over the ditch by researchers who say efforts to address the obesity epidemic in Australia were being hampered by inadequate and outdated data.

Researchers from Deakin University?s World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention said the federal government needed to introduce a population-wide programme to monitor childhood obesity, which was ?a fundamental component of prevention?.

But New Zealand?s Health Ministry told the Times its annual health survey ? which weighed and measured around 4500 children between 2-14 years ? would provide enough data to work from.

It also provided data around breakfast and fast food consumption, which could be analysed with the weight data to provide more meaningful information, the ministry said.

So weighing and measuring all school age children was not a move they?d considered.

The results of the most recent health survey are not available until November, but a previous survey in 2006-07 showed 8.3 per cent of children aged 2-14 were obese and 20 per cent were overweight.

Professor of Nutrition, Elaine Rush, said there were more important indicators to obesity than simply measuring a child and hoped New Zealand wouldn?t introduce nationwide measuring.

Mrs Rush, who led the highly praised Project Energise in Waikato schools, said a better measure was how fast a child could run 50 metres.

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Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=3952

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