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Apart from being famous for at least fifteen minutes, the greatest obsession of our times must surely be weight. Or perhaps that should be the greatest obsession of affluent countries, where an abundance of food combines with and an ever-increasing amount of leisure, often involving activities undertaken sitting on our backsides. These changes in culture and lifestyle are not limited to the West. Chinese children, who are almost invariably only children these days, are also suffering a massive increase in obesity.

Looking at all the factors contributing to the so-called epidemic of obesity, it's a wonder more children are not overweight. Computer games, the Internet and television/videos/DVDs are increasingly replacing sporting and outdoor activities, while children seem to have extraordinary amounts of cash to spend filling their faces with junk food full of sugar, saturated fats and processed carbohydrates.

Old photographs of Australians in the first half of last century tell an interesting story. Peruse pictures of our grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations and you'll be hard pressed to find a single overweight person. It's not because there was not enough to eat; it's because they ate considerably less processed food, worked a lot harder to survive and had a lot less time to sit on their much leaner behinds. Fast food back then meant a cheese and tomato sandwich.

As anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows, putting it on is the easy part and getting it off again is hell. Children allowed to become obese will suffer associated health problems for the rest of their lives. Half a dozen American states are currently considering labelling laws for restaurants and fast-food chains but whether that will make any difference is highly debatable. Aggressive modern marketing will beat boring old facts every time.

What every parent should know
Claire Hutchinson - Occupational Therapist

Parents should follow their intuition if they believe their child is not developing as expected. Tom's parents certainly wish they had.

As a three year old, Tom was admitted to hospital with severe tonsillitis. His tonsils were removed and he was discharged. At the time, Tom's parents expressed their concern to the practicing doctor that his speech development seemed to have stagnated for the past year. The doctor reassured Tom's parents this was not a concern and he would eventually catch up.

Tom is now in Year Six and still hasn't caught up. While his speech is fine, he struggles with reading and writing tasks, cannot follow multiple instructions and is frequently given time out for disrupting the class or not listening. Tom is obviously smart enough because he has a vivid imagination and a strong memory for things that he enjoys, so his problems have been attributed to laziness and naughtiness.

Since being advised against worrying about his speech delays, Tom's parents have felt frustrated by his underachievement. They have subsequently blamed Tom, the education system, themselvesŠ everything but the cause. Like many other smart West Australian children who struggle at school, Tom experiences an undiagnosed Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). Conservatively estimated to affect five percent of the population, the condition is characterised by normal peripheral hearing yet poor understanding by the brain of what is heard. A PET Scan of Tom's brain would show that his language centre is small and patchy. Unfortunately, his difficulty is not obvious to the eye.

A lot of attention and understanding is given to children whose difficulties are apparent or tangible. For instance, Lucy is in Tom's class and she sits close to the blackboard because she has trouble seeing from a distance. Another classmate, Ben, is rarely reprimanded for his disruptive behaviour because he has been diagnosed with ADHD, and is medicated with Ritalin. Because their difficulties have been identified and linked to an accepted cause, the classroom teacher frequently checks how Lucy and Ben are going to make sure they know what to do next. When Tom is rummaging through his pencil case or scribbling on his paper, however, trying to look busy because he doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing, he is told to listen to the instructions and stop being silly.

Tom has received negative feedback for his attempts at learning ever since Year One. Now too scared to ask for help, his potential has been discouraged and masked. There tends to be an intrinsic mismatch between the teaching methods employed in many Australian classrooms and the learning needs of children with CAPD. Consider the familiar metaphor of learning to crawl, walk, and then run - it would not be natural to teach a child to run when they can only crawl. Similarly, the language centre of Tom's brain is essentially 'crawling', so teaching him to 'run' through complex literary tasks such as comprehension and problem solving is not practical or feasible. He needs the fundamental language skills firmly imprinted on his brain before he will be able to really succeed with any further learning.

In 2004, the Australian Federal Government announced it would provide parents of Year Three children not meeting minimum reading standards with $700 toward individual reading lessons. This pilot Tutorial Credit Scheme was surely implemented with the best of intentions but is yet another example of academic support that does not necessarily match the need. Tutoring is an excellent tool for catching children up with their schoolwork when the underlying learning skills are well developed but for children with CAPD, tutoring is basically 'band-aiding' their learning difficulties.

There is very little promotion and understanding of CAPD in Western Australia, which may be due in some measure to the controversy and hype surrounding the alleged over-medication of ADD/ADHD, with a rate more than four times greater than in any other Australian state.  The danger in not promoting or understanding CAPD is that many children will slip through the educational cracks, their potential unrecognised and unsupported. Like Tom, they will eventually experience anger, apathy, frustration, self-doubt, fear, or pressure.

The most common affects of CAPD are literacy problems. In December of 2004, Dr Ken Rowe, of the Australian Council for Educational Research, who leads a Federal Government enquiry into the teaching of literacy, described the Australian benchmarks for minimum literacy requirements as too low. He said it would be doing primary and secondary school students 'a great disservice' not to teach them to develop a functioning level of literacy. Dr Rowe also stated that 'Hospitals are complaining that their clinics are being filled with kids who are being referred for things like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.' He said that 'once the paediatricians sort out the children's literacy problems, the behaviour problems disappear.'

This highlights the importance of early identification of children's strengths and weaknesses so that appropriate intervention can be provided immediately. Children's initial experiences with schooling significantly impact on their long-term perceptions of their learning capacity and their self worth. The unfortunate reality for many that go undiagnosed is poor overall education, reduced self-esteem, reduced professional opportunities and a diminished quality of life.

Fortunately there are ways to prevent unfulfilled potential due to CAPD. The first is to ensure children's abilities and weaknesses are identified as early as possible. In retrospect, Tom's parents realise it was obvious very early on that he was not progressing as expected. However, they were deterred from having him assessed for learning difficulties because they were reassured there was nothing wrong by a health professional who had spent a total of 30 minutes with Tom. Of course they wish that they had followed their instincts.

It is also important to keep in mind that not all children with CAPD will present with the same characteristics. Some may enjoy challenges outside of school, yet avoid them in the classroom. Some may exhibit poor organisational skills, yet enjoy problem-solving tasks. They may be verbose, imaginative children with poor written work. Some may experience difficulty when listening and following directions. They may have difficulty remembering schoolwork, however exhibit good memory for people, objects, experiences, and emotions. Others just don't seem to harness their intelligence or reach their academic potential.

Like all children, kids with CAPD want to learn. They must expend a great deal more mental energy, however, to understand information and instructions, leaving little mental capacity for learning. Developing an understanding of the child's needs ensures that learning difficulties are not misinterpreted as laziness, malingering, or naughtiness.

To talk to a specialist regarding CAPD, rehabilitation, or to receive a free information package, call Sonic Hearing's Head Office in North Perth on 9271 7711.

WA children to receive psychiatric treatment without parental consent

West Australian parents and guardians need to be aware of the sweeping powers being recommended for psychiatrists in the State and their impact on families. The government has supported recommendations in the Review of the Mental Health Act for new laws allowing psychiatric treatments to be given to children without the consent of parents or a guardian.

These recommendations could see any child, regardless of age, detained by law and treated involuntarily. They may be forcibly given mind-altering drugs, restrained and secluded and could also be given electric shock treatment if over the age of 12 - all without any parental or guardian consent required, according to Ron Carlisle, spokesperson for the Citizens Committee on Human Rights (CCHR).

Other recommendations and their results include:

When a child is detained involuntarily, the right of a parent to visit or phone may be withdrawn if a psychiatrist decides it is in the best interests of the child to have no contact with the parents.

'Reasonable force' may be used to administer drugs and other treatment.

Legislation may not be passed to ensure that children are kept separate from adults in a psychiatric facility.