Spotlight on our growing obesity issue

Health experts demand clampdown on unhealthy food ads aimed at children

Abroad range of public health experts concerned about New Zealand’s growing obesity rates want a clampdown on the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

Auckland University researchers who canvassed 52 experts found the greatest support among childfocused policies was for Government rules to restrict unhealthy food marketing to people under 16 on television, food packaging, point-of-sale ads and through sports sponsorship deals. This was followed by: Ensuring schools and early childhood education (ECE) centres were free of commercial promotion of unhealthy foods.

Ensuring that unhealthy foods were not sold at schools and early childhood education centres.

Imposing a 20 per cent or greater tax on sugary drinks.

“The Government has signalled that it wants to make a genuine effort to reverse New Zealand’s unacceptably high rate of obesity, and these . . . policies really need to be a central part of the Government’s plans for that to be successful,” said Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere, an author of the research, published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation.

Ten per cent of New Zealand children and 30 per cent of adults are obese. Adult obesity has tripled since 1977.

The Medical Association has called for a broad front to tackle the problem, proposing policies similar to those in the research, and the Auckland Regional Public Health Service is lobbying for rules to restrict the sales of unhealthy foods to children at dairies, and the number of dairies allowed in an area.

The Government has repeatedly ruled out sugar and fat taxes, and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman yesterday declined to comment on specific policy suggestions.

In a written statement he instead pointed to the Government’s actions on obesity, such as the $10 milliona-year Healthy Families NZ scheme, green prescriptions, the KiwiSport school scheme, fruit in schools and the voluntary star-rating scheme for packaged foods.

The chief executive of the Com- munication Agencies Association, Paul Head, objected to the idea of regulations to control food ads to children, which are covered by a voluntary industry code in respect of under-14s.

“There are already restrictions under the Advertising Standards Authority,” he said.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that advertising is driving behaviour.”

A co-author of the WHO paper, Boyd Swinburn, said the voluntary controls on advertising unhealthy food to children were full of loopholes.

“The code just covers the specific children’s programming time. The main viewing time for primary and secondary school children is the peak viewing time.”