Bigger Uniforms for Australian Children

Monday 02nd of August 2010 11:34:09 PM

It seems bigger uniforms are needed for children no matter what country you are looking at. There have been recent reports on the growing childhood obesity problem in the United Kingdom and the United States. An obese child is one that weighs more than 20 percent of the average weight of a child in the same age group and build.

Australia has now joined the ranks of countries addressing children with a weight problem. Such children are overweight which is generally classified as being more than 10 percent heavier than children in the same age group. But being overweight is usually a precursor to becoming obese and neither condition is acceptable.

Children who are overweight are more likely to develop certain diseases in adulthood like diabetes and heart condition. Some of the first people to recognize that overweight children have special needs are those who manufacture school uniforms. For example, Ann-Maree Peacock is the owner of Coastal Uniforms located in Geelong. She said that it is becoming more common to receive orders for special sizing for children who are chubbier. Because the school clothes for children of normal weight will not fit the overweight children, the custom orders ask for pants or skirts with much larger waists. The same is true for shirts.

Susan Whetton is the owner of A Plus Uniforms which is also in Geelong. She said that childhood obesity has become such a problem that she now stocks both regular sized and large sized school uniforms. According to public records there are as many as 25 percent of the Australian children between 5 and 17 years old who are overweight or obese. The problem is getting worse and not better too. Since 1995 the number of overweight or obese children has grown by 21 percent. A lot of the fault is placed on children eating poor quality food like fast food. It is up to the families to teach their children how to make healthy food choices. They should also make exercise a part of the daily routine.

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