• Megan Hickie, Kirsty Douglas, and Karen Ciszek.
• ANU Medical School, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
• Aust Fam Physician. 2013 Jul 1; 42 (7): 497500497-500.

BackgroundThis study investigated the prevalence of overweight and obese Indigenous kindergarten children in the Australian Capital Territory.MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on data collected as part of the Kindergarten Health Check, a cross sectional population based survey conducted in the ACT from 2004 to 2008.ResultsThe prevalence of overweight and obesity was statistically significantly higher among Indigenous (18%) compared to non-Indigenous kindergarten children (14%) (p=0.02, OR=1.40, 95% CI=1.051-1.862). Ten percent of parents of normal weight children, and 16% of parents of overweight or obese children, reported concerns about weight and eating habits, with no significant difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous parents.DiscussionThe low level of parental concern about obesity suggests that general practitioners should persist with screening for, and managing, overweight and obesity in kindergarten-aged children in similar jurisdictions on a proactive basis.

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