Canberra children struggling to eat vegetables, get enough exercise as obesity levels remain steady
One quarter of Canberra children are overweight or obese, according to an ACT Government report, which found little change in the numbers over the past five years.
The report titled A Picture of ACT's Children and Young People 2016 found almost 19 per cent of Canberra children were overweight and 5.5 per cent were obese in 2014-15.
While the ACT had lower childhood overweight and obesity rates than the rest of the nation (at 20.2 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively) the figures for Canberra have remained steady since 2011.
The study said a balanced diet and sufficient exercise could prevent children from becoming overweight and obese.
The recommended intake of fruit and vegetables for Canberra children is two serves of fruit per day and five serves of vegetables.
According to the report, while just under 70 per cent were eating healthy levels of fruit, only 5 per cent were eating the correct amount of vegetables.
Since 2007 the percentage of children eating two serves of fruit per day has risen slightly.
But the percentage of children eating the correct amount of vegetables has dropped slightly since 2009.
The report also found only a fifth of children were meeting the recommended 60 minutes of exercise per day.
On average, 22 per cent of children were getting the correct amount of exercise — 25 per cent of boys and 19 per cent of girls.
But the study said parents may be partly to blame, with results from the 2011-14 ACT General Health Survey showing less than half knew how much exercise their children should get per day.
Mental health issues rising among young people
The report examined a wide range of health topics, including mental health, finding mental health treatments among young people were on the rise.
The number of young people receiving a treatment plan from their GP increased by about 1,000 to 10,400 last year.
The majority of young people accessing mental health treatments were between the ages of 15-24 years old.
Smoking rates among secondary students in the ACT have continued to decrease over time.
In 2014, just under 19 per cent of all high school students surveyed said they had smoked at least once in their lifetime, about 5 per cent of students reported smoking cigarettes at least one day that week and 1.4 per cent reported being daily smokers.
Although tobacco use has remained relatively stable over the past few years, it has had a significant decrease over the past two decades.
The survey found the same for alcohol consumption.
In 2014, 71.6 per cent of students reported that they had consumed at least a few sips of alcohol in their lifetime, 12 per cent reported drinking in the past week and 5 per cent said they occasionally drank at risky levels.