A new inquiry’s spotlight may fall on teenagers battling the bulge in communities including Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst.
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In 2014, 30.4 per cent of secondary school students living within the boundaries of the Western NSW and Far West local health districts were identified by the state government as being either overweight or obese.
The percentage was higher than for all other health districts.
On Friday the government announced an upper house inquiry in keeping with “tackling childhood obesity”, one of Premier Mike Baird’s 12 key priorities for NSW.
Currently, more than one in five children in NSW is overweight or obese.
The upper house’s standing committee on social issues has been asked to inquire into and report on strategies to reduce children’s waistlines.
The inquiry is expected to include public hearings.
It is calling for submissions by August 21.
Teenagers up to the age of 18, health professionals, parent groups and sporting clubs are among the recipients of a general invitation to provide input into what standing committee chairwoman Bronnie Taylor calls a “massive issue”.
The government reports that children who are overweight or obese are more likely to suffer poor health.
They are also more likely to carry excess weight into adulthood, putting them at increased risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
In 2011-2012, 79 per cent of adults under the care of the defunct Western NSW Medicare Local were overweight or obese.
Western NSW was on top of a table of regional and rural catchments in five states with the highest percentages of overweight or obese adults.
This week Mrs Taylor, of Nimmitabel near Cooma, encouraged the Western NSW community to get involved in the inquiry.
“The inquiry will consider strategies to assist parents and carers in making healthier choices for their children and strategies to support health professionals in identifying and addressing childhood overweight and obesity,” she said.
A focus of the inquiry’s terms of reference is “co-ordination” of government agencies and the potential for them to collaborate with the private sector.
For further information visit www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/socialissues or call 9230 2412.
