Taking a stand to battle the bulge

OLYMPIAN Jane Flemming wants legislation to force schoolkids to stand up in half their lessons to battle the bulge.

Ms Flemming is also campaigning to have drop-off zones moved further from the school gates so children walk more. The heptathlete-turnedhealth guru said obesity had reached crisis point. One in four Australian children aged 2-17 is overweight or obese.

“The biggest decline in physical activity occurs the day someone start schools,” she said. “Sitting is just a shocker for brain function and physical health.”

Ms Flemming, who founded free Live Life Get Active fitness classes, will discuss obesity at the Australian Medical Association’s national conference on Sunday. She said legislation to have students alternate between sitting and standing would be an “easy fix”.

Association president Michael Gannon said there was no “silver bullet”.

“There is no question that obesity is the public health crisis of our time,” Dr Gannon said.

The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute probed the benefits of height-adjustable desks at Mont Albert Primary School in 2014.

Students reported better concentration, but there was no change in their “weight status”. A later Deakin University trial found that students who had height-adjustable desks cut their class time spent sitting by 40 per cent. They also expended 38 kilocalories more per lesson — enough to prevent a 5kg gain over a year.

The institute’s head of physical activity research, David Dunstan, said reducing the time children spent sitting had health benefits.

“The movement from sitting to standing throughout the day is likely to lead to increased blood flow,” Professor Dunstan said.