Olympian wants kids to 'get off their butts' and stand up in class to reduce obesity

Olympian Jane Flemming says new measures should be introduced to combat childhood obesity including stand-up desks in classrooms and a further walk to pick-up/drop-off zones from the school gates.

The former heptathlete and long jumper said stand-up desks should be a requirement in at least half of students' classes and a longer walk to the drop-off zone would be beneficial for them, encouraging students to use their legs as a means of transport.

On Sunrise on Friday, panellists Melissa Hoyer from news.com.au, Mark Beretta and Emily Taylor from InStyle magazine discussed the importance of tackling childhood obesity.

Hoyer said Flemming's ideas were a great concept.

"The physicality of it could be difficult - imagine trying to get little five year olds to stand still," she said.

"But it's a great concept and we do need to fight obesity - if this is one way to attempt to fight it then good on her."

Flemming suggested creating a distance between the drop-off zone and the schools gates to encourage students to walk more.

Beretta said her ideas were necessary.

"We're always saying we need to think outside the square and good on her for thinking like this- she has a couple of good ideas around this and what kids should be doing at school," he said.

"The drop off zone is a great idea."

Ms Taylor added any extra exercise for kids is good exercise.

"Any kind of incidental exercise is great for kids but this really does need to start at home," she said.

"It's not necessarily just up to the school, the example should be started at home.

"We should be doing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and maybe that's walking your child to school."

Flemming said it would be great to see her ideas introduced.

More education needed to help fight obesity
“I would love to see legislation that requires every second school lesson to be at a stand-up desk, and for safe drop off zones for schools to be further from the gate,” Flemming told the Herald Sun.

One in four Australian children aged two to 17 is now overweight or obese.

“It would be really simple legislation to do something like that and an easy fix,” Flemming added.

“It is about incidental activity and getting people off their butts.”

Since Flemming’s Olympic success, she has founded free Live Life Get Active fitness classes.

“The biggest decline in physical activity occurs the day someone starts school,” she said.

“Sitting is just a shocker for brain function and physical health.

“When I was at school the fat kid was considered the stand out whereas now they are the norm.”

In terms of dropp-off zones, Flemming said it’s all about encouraging people to move more.

“People need to get into the habit of using their legs in the form of transport,” she said.

Flemming will discuss obesity at the Australian Medical Association’s national conference on Sunday.