Preschool obesity costs Australia $17 million every year

According to the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH) a fifth of Aussie kids are overweight before they start school, while one-in-twenty is obese, and Australian scientists have put a public health price tag on childhood obesity in our nation – $17 million every year. 

The scientists say each obese child incurs a healthcare cost $367 above that of a child of healthy weight, and that their findings highlight the importance of early intervention in preventing childhood obesity and saving healthcare dollars.

‘Our estimate of the annual cost to the Australian healthcare system of obesity in children aged under five further highlights the importance of prevention in an age group that is often overlooked by researchers and public health professionals,’ the authors wrote.