Wednesday 30th April, 2008 - As the world turns

There is no doubt that times are changing and that society is rapidly evolving, not always for the better, but what is, is, so we can't expect to live in the present looking backwards for solutions to our future.

This is something I said in conversation and just stopped. My friend and I were talking about our lives growing up in response to a recent blog about responsibility and the ongoing problem by individuals.

So can problems that haven't plagued us in the past such as childhood obesity and childhood diabetes, really be a template for providing us with solutions to the future and the current obesity crisis we are facing as it continues to escalate.

I think not when we are talking about creating change. Change means doing something different because in the past everyone ate less and moved more. We lived more active lifestyles (mostly) from a young age and we never faced health issues that are current today in children, until we reached a more mature age above 40-45.

Yet our solutions nowadays being thrown forward are to tell children to stop playing on the computer and watching TV which they see their parent's do - "monkey see / monkey do" or we try to engage children in sports. And this is in After School Care because the "experts" see this as a great solution. Did they think to talk to parents? Because friends of mine that have children already are time poor and complain about losing their "homework time".

Also why you would pay ex-sports stars to manage this fiasco is beyond me. I think at last count they had spent well over $100 million dollars of tax payer funded money. I'm not out to make enemies but also I'm not here to make friends. I am here to start not only debate but practical solutions.

You want an integrated plan? Why not try to engage the people that are involved in getting people healthy everyday - the fitness industry - who could have facilitated activity programs either at lunchtimes or as a substitute for P.E. classes that have mysteriously disappeared for school timetables.

Having now seen many of the physical education programs disappearing around Australia and also overseas during my time in researching childhood obesity for the Body Mechanics project I was really impressed by one program that has stepped up to fill this void (check out www.blearth.org)

Now BLUEARTH is a program that is NOT government funded but should be. Rather it is one man's passion to create change in the overall health of Australian children. The program has a dedicated team of quality educational and experienced individuals who all work full-time, again fully funded by one man, and they have created a "best of breed" physical activity program as selected by the Nations of the Commonwealth.

It is the only program that I have seen that trains and educates the primary school teachers to be able to facilitate the program after they leave, which means that it is self fulfilling in it's goal to move in, educate, and move on thus limiting any ongoing cost. The business model involves degree qualified human movements people who are trained by the Institute, to be able to educate and facilitate the program. Again at the cost to the organisation.

Knowing that it has been in operation since 2000 and the government is still yet to fully get behind this program is a crime. Now I am not affiliated with the Bluearth Institute but have seen first hand the implementation and the effect. They continue to do research, they get testimonials, they change lives.

There is a saying that “if you continue to do what you have always done, then you will continue to get, what you have always got”.

I think that this rationale applies to the current strategy for dealing with the health crisis in preventable diseases that is facing us now, and what lies ahead.

So far there has been a lot of money (and continues to be) spent on "research" to find out how bad the obesity problem is, and even to justify if the problem actually exists. While I fully support using research to find and validate practical solutions and answers to disease related issues, I truly think that the government (of any country) should stop spending money to appear to be "doing something".

Bottom line. There is a problem. The problem is getting worse. Let’s start doing something positive to change it.

It is almost like the government’s want to be seen to do something publicly, so they invest in a known institution which spends ALL the money (otherwise they won’t get any more “grants”), and don’t actually work to provide on the ground solutions but will always have lots of accredited validation for their findings and not actually recommend “doing anything”.

Here is a suggestion - next time you hold a Childhood Obesity Summit try to "think outside of the box" and involve people who "work to create change" on a regular basis instead of the "usual suspects" who show up and agree with previous policies to maintain their good relations with the authorities who approve their "grants" and continue to lead us blindly down the wrong path.

Wake up - this will cost you a lot more taxpayer dollars if YOU don't.