Australia is falling behind other countries in tackling the unhealthy state of our diet.
Several other countries, including the UK, Canada and Mexico, have recently taken significant steps to help improve people’s nutrition and prevent obesity.
But our last evaluationpublished as part of the International Congress on Obesityfound major gaps in Australian Government policy compared to international best practice, with limited policy progress over the past five years.
What did we assess?
Our federal government assessment included a scorecard of how Australia is progressing in 50 policy areas to tackle unhealthy diets. These policy areas include key influences on what we buy and what we eat, including policies that affect the price and affordability of different foods, the types of foods available, how foods are labeled, and the how foods are promoted.
We have worked closely with government officials to document ongoing actions in each policy area. We then assessed how existing policies compared to international benchmarks.
Finally, we made recommendations to address the gaps, prioritizing them based on their relative importance and feasibility. Eighty-four experts from 37 organizations participated in the assessment and prioritization process.
How does Australia compare to other countries?
We found that the implementation of globally recommended policies to improve people’s diets and tackle obesity in Australia falls far short of international best practice.
There has been only limited political progress in Australia over the past five years.
The regions where Australia is doing well
One of the only areas where Australia did well was in food labelling, where some of the regulations around ingredient lists, nutrition information panels and health claims ranked among the best in the world.
The other area that got Australia’s top marks is that the GST does not apply to fresh fruit and vegetables, helping to lower their prices compared to other less healthy products.
Which other countries are doing better?
Several other countries have policies in place to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods and make it easier for people to choose healthier options.
Latin American countries are leading the way globally. Chile has implement comprehensive restrictions on television advertising for unhealthy foods, prominent warning labels on unhealthy product packaging, and taxes on sugary drinks. Mexico has similar policies.
Elsewhere in the world, more than 50 countries now have taxes on sugary drinks. There are clear evidence these taxes have reduced the consumption of the taxed products, while encouraging soft drink manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of their drinks.
Several other governments are taking strong action to protect children from exposure to unhealthy food marketing. For example, the UK should ban ads for unhealthy foods online and on TV before 9 p.m. from 2024. Canada has similar laws before their parliament.
The United Kingdom has also just introduced major changes on the operation of supermarkets. Laws that came into effect this month mean that unhealthy products can no longer be displayed in prominent in-store locations, such as store entrances and checkout areas.
In addition, the UK has proposed a to forbid on unhealthy food price discounts, although implementation remains uncertain with the recent change at the head of the government.
Several other innovative policies are in place internationally. For example, in some parts of Mexico, retailers can’t sell unhealthy foods to children. And in Argentina there is laws dictate the maximum sodium (salt) content of a product line.
How bad are Australian diets?
Unhealthy diets and obesity are the main contributors to poor health in Australia.
Less than seven% of Australians eat a healthy diet in line with Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Almost 65% of Australian adultsand 25% of Australian children are overweight or obese.
While there isn’t good data on how these stats have changed over the past few years, things have probably changed. worse since the start of the COVID pandemic.
Unless we see comprehensive government action to improve people’s diets, there will be huge health and financial costs individuals, communities and the economy as a whole.
What steps should Australia take?
The political action of the federal government is necessary to improve people’s diets and combat obesity. This includes:
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protect children from exposure to the marketing of unhealthy food and drink through comprehensive and consistent national legislation
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implement a health tax on sugary drinks (a tax on sugar) and other unhealthy foods, while ensuring the affordability of healthy foods
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improve food labeling by making it mandatory Health Star Rating System and requiring warning labels on products high in added sugars, sodium (salt) and/or saturated fat.
What holds us back?
Over the past 12 months, the former federal government released key strategies in this area, including the National preventive health strategy (2021-2030) and the National Obesity Strategy (2022-2032). But that has yet to result in any changes on the ground.
Critically, there is a strong Support of the Australian community for governments to impose higher marketing standards to support the health and well-being of children. More … than 75% of Australians also back off warning labels on unhealthy foods.
It is promising to see momentum building around a legislative ban on the marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks to children.
But now is the time for the federal government to catch up with the rest of the world and implement meaningful policy change to help Australians improve their diets.
