Bahamian athletes taking part in the Commonwealth Games in Australia earlier this month represented - like their fellow competitors - the best of their nation. Amid the training and the competition few would have had time to sit and read a newspaper. If they had, in the columns of The Australian they would have found an article by writer Ruth Ostrow which would have rung many bells. Ruth wrote about the problems of child obesity and its growing impact on developing nations. As Health Minister Duane Sands embarks on a crusade to change Bahamian diets - through education and changing the price of bread basket items - Ruth’s article is worth reading just to know we aren’t alone with obesity crisis The Bahamas faces and how other nations are sharing our experience.

There were many joys and much sadness during my recent trip around Vietnam and Cambodia. The sadness was, of course, the horror of experiencing the Vietnam War and Pol Pot regime at close range through oral history and visits to many challenging places.

But there was another unexpected sadness that emerged. It was a lovely time to be in Vietnam amid all the celebrations leading up to Chinese New Year. The roads and parks were packed with families buying flowers, going to myriad street festivals, hanging lights. But what I noticed shocked me. Many of the children were either obese or fast getting there. I would say 30 percent of the children I saw in Ho Chi Minh City at various events were chubby bubbies.

They were being led around by parents who had the more traditional Vietnamese fame, lithe and often petite, due to the consumption of rice, light noodles, fresh vegetables, fruit, some meat and fish. The food in Vietnam is to die for: healthy, yummy and abundant. But the children made me want to cry. They were so beautifully dressed and so proud of themselves showing me their costumes, parading around for my photos and unaware of what we know to be their fate.

I noticed the same in China when I was there a few years ago, especially in the large shopping complexes catering for the new middle-classes. Parents proudly showed off their well-dressed but noticeably well-fed kids, travelling up and down elevators A recent report claims China has the world’s biggest population of obese children and is second only to the US in the number of obese adults.

According to the World Health Organisation, rapid economic growth in many developing countries has contributed to dietary and lifestyle changes including the switch to processed or junk food, and increased sedentary behaviour with the influx of mobile devices keeping bums on chairs.

WHO believes that with the growing availability of fatty, sugary foods and beverages in low-to-middle income countries, 41 million children aged five and under are overweight or obese, which is set to almost double over the next decade.

And Asia is now home to nearly half of those overweight children, accounting for 75 percent of cases when combined with Africa, WHO claimed in a a 2016 report.

Another report on Vietnam claims one in ten young children are already overweight or obese and one in five have high levels of abdominal fat.

It’s clear that the obesity epidemic is spreading with westernisation and despite pressure to get governments to tax junk foods or dissuade consumption, it seems - from what I observed - that the parents also need to stop being so permissive. Which is pretty much the point I want to make.

Here in Australia, recently, a mother was shamed for sending her daughter to school with what looked to me like a light, healthy lunch. She posted on parenting website Mumsnet that she had been accused, by a friend, of “starving” her child, event though the child was happy enough with her healthy daily meals.

Heated responses followed. It’s beyond me why such a discussion would ever occur except for the fact that a lot of parents still believe that “nourishing” children amounts to over-feeding them. And “spoiling” is that special night at McDonald’s or lolly treats. On a positive note, many schools and kindergartens are encouraging parents to pack health food options like the “nude food” movement: fresh fruit, veggies and nutritious snacks in eco-friendly packaging.

Which itself caused controversy when a mother sent a chocolate slice with her child to kindergarten and was told by note to re-evaluate her food options. A lot of people supported the mother. I can understand why. Food fascism annoys me too. But the obesity epidemic is spreading around the world and kids have to be “immunised” by their parents against carrying and consuming excessive sugar to prevent other kids around them catching food envy. Seems neighbouring countries need protecting too.

In our region we need to lead by example. Otherwise the consequences are too sad to watch.