JUST as home visits from midwives have increased rates of breastfeeding, the Heart Foundation believes home visits aimed at teaching new mums about healthy eating and active play could reduce childhood obesity.

More than 60 per cent of Australian adults and almost a quarter of Australian children are now overweight or obese, putting them at significantly higher risk of heart disease, the nation’s number one killer, as well as other serious health conditions including diabetes and certain cancers.

A University of Sydney study published in the “British Medical Journal” has found in a trial of nearly 700 first-time mums in south west Sydney, that children whose mothers had received the health-focused home visits had a lower body mass index (BMI) and lower rates of overweight and obesity.

Thirty-four-year-old Sarah Yap, of Harrison, is mum to three-year-old Shaun and 11-month-old Audrey. She works three days a week as a public servant and believes home visits would help parents make better choices.

“I think that the rise in childhood obesity is unfortunately linked to the unhealthy choices their parents make and the fact that they are constantly being fed junk food and watch a lot of television at home,” she says.

“It is a struggle for mothers who are often time poor to make the right choices. Heavy marketing of junk food is a big problem in our society and everywhere you go you will see the junk-food aisle when you go to the supermarket checkout.

“I think it’s difficult for mothers to magically change their bad habits but if they had a home visit, it would make a difference to them.”

Heart Foundation clinical issues director Dr Robert Grenfell says this research shows how effective simple health tips can be when they’re delivered to the right people in the right way.

“Australians – and mums in particular – are constantly being bombarded with information on how to be healthy, but so much of it gets dumped in the too-hard basket because it is complicated, confusing or contradictory.

“That’s why the Heart Foundation developed the Mums United campaign to help Australian families take small, easy steps towards a healthier lifestyle and ultimately achieve a healthy weight,” Dr Grenfell said.

Practical tips including quick, healthier family recipes are available at heartfoundation.org.au/mumsunited