To the Editor: We concur wholeheartedly with Gill and colleagues1 in support of recognising obesity as a public health issue, and we dispute claims that the current problem of obesity is being exaggerated.
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- 1. Gill TP, Baur LA, Bauman AE, et al. Childhood obesity in Australia remains a widespread health concern that warrants population-wide prevention programs. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 146-148. <MJA full text>
- 2. Huang RC, Mori TA, Burke V, et al. Synergy between adiposity, insulin resistance, metabolic risk factors, and inflammation in adolescents. Diabetes Care 2009; 32: 695-701.
- 3. Huang RC, Burke V, Newnham JP, et al. Perinatal and childhood origins of cardiovascular disease. Int J Obes (Lond) 2007; 31: 236-244.
- 4. Ridker PM, Hennekens CH, Buring JE, Rifai N. C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation in the prediction of cardiovascular disease in women. N Engl J Med 2000; 342: 836-843.
- 5. Ford ES, Ajani UA, Mokdad AH. The metabolic syndrome and concentrations of C-reactive protein among US youth. Diabetes Care 2005; 28: 878-881.
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We are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study and to the Raine Study team. We acknowledge the support of the Raine Medical Research Foundation, Healthway, Western Australia and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (University of Western Australia) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Rae-Chi Huang is supported by the NHMRC Postgraduate Research, NHMRC Centre for Clinical Research Excellence (Royal Perth Hospital) and Athelstan and Amy Saw Research scholarships.