MELBOURNE, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Australian child health experts have unveiled a nationally coordinated, multi-pronged strategy to tackle rising childhood obesity, targeting heart health, diet, exercise and sleep.
The initiative, known as GenHEART and led by Australia's Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), will run over 10 years and aims to reverse alarming obesity trends among children and their parents, said an MCRI statement released Monday.
The program will draw on Generation Australia, a large-scale research platform combining two long-term cohort studies tracking about 60,000 children and families in the states of Victoria and Western Australia, it said.
"Good heart health in childhood is crucial to reducing the risk of chronic disease across a person's lifetime," said MCRI Professor Melissa Wake, who will help oversee Generation Australia.
Four major trials are planned from 2027, examining whether earlier bedtimes, parental weight-loss treatments, school-based blood pressure screening, and strength-focused physical activities can improve children's long-term health outcomes.
"We know the risk factors underlying cardiometabolic diseases such as unhealthy weight gain, high blood pressure, low physical activity and poor sleep often begin in the primary school years," Wake said.
The initiative represented a rare opportunity to reverse rising obesity rates and related chronic diseases, including cardiovascular conditions, diabetes and kidney disease, which together cost Australia more than 23 billion Australian dollars (about 16.54 billion U.S. dollars) annually in healthcare spending, she said.
The program involves leading universities and research institutes across multiple Australian states. ■
