Unhealthy Food Marketing: In Australia, there simply isn’t enough regulation of junk food marketing.
When compared with places like Canada and Chile – where enforced restrictions in the advertisement and promotion of fast food have seen positive advancements in terms of dramatically reduced obesity levels among children – Australian policymakers’ efforts to manage our exposure to these unhealthy messages simply aren’t cutting the mustard!
For Australians to see real change, we need to tackle the childhood obesity issue head-on. This means arming our citizens with the educational tools and knowledge we require to combat the problem and also actively disseminating healthier messages to Australian families within our national food and beverage marketing campaigns.
Change makers completing a Masters of Public Policy, who are keen to make a difference in public life and consumer habits, will need to transform the way our society consumes and is exposed to unhealthy food marketing, among other pressing social issues.
Let’s discuss.
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Global Food and Beverage Policies: Consumer Marketing Messages Around the World
Australia is one of the fattest nations in the world! In fact, Australian men in particular are ranked as the 4th most obese population globally, with Aussie women coming in close behind – ranked 9th out of 21 countries. Alarmingly, this means that as many as 2 in 3 Australians are seriously overweight.
For Australia to lessen our dangerously high obesity levels, then, we need to model our national health initiatives on the positive examples provided by other nations. For instance, in Quebec, there has been a marked reduction in the consumption of junk thanks to a state-wide ban on television advertising of fast food to Quebecer children.
Chile’s nationwide war on obesity has implemented altogether more drastic measures – banning specific food items such as overly salty snacks and sugary sweets from public sale completely. While this may seem somewhat draconian, the results this initiative has elicited seem to have been worth it – transforming the Chilean population’s previously simultaneously malnourished and overweight condition into a much healthier society overall.
Australia’s Love/Hate Relationship with Unhealthy Food: What Do We Do About it?
For a nationwide change in Australia’s love/hate relationship with unhealthy food, we need government-enforced regulation of consumer food and beverage marketing.
For one, there need to be serious restrictions placed on the way obesity-making foods are being marketed to impressionable consumers – particularly children. This means placing bans on junk food ads during kid’s TV programmes, as well as enforcing reduced exposure to these unhealthy influences via outdoor media such as roadside signs and billboards. The restrictions placed on the advertisement of fast food also need to come with heavy penalties, to dissuade any disregard for these policies. They also need to be regulated by independent and unbiased bodies with nothing to gain from Australia’s consumption of fast food.
Further to this, we also need to implement nationwide educational programs to inform Aussies of the risks of eating unhealthy foods. Sadly, many Australians simply don’t know how to eat well. They may not even know that the competitively priced and addictively tasty convenience foods they’re feeding to their families are not good for them! This is, for the most part, why so many of us are obese.
The key to healthier choices, then, is through education. Aussies need to be taught to take pride in cultivating healthy eating habits. When was the last time you reached for a piece of fruit instead of that calorie-laden snack you were craving? Perhaps more importantly, did you even realise that certain tempting treats were bad for your waistline?
On the subject of education, whatever happened to the national Australian Bananas marketing campaign? If you’re like me, you can still hear the catchy ‘Make Your Body Sing’ jingle ringing pleasantly in your ears. Surely, we can bring these types of wholesome, family-friendly messages back onto our airways? In any case, and regardless of how we do it, we need to do more to promote healthier food choices among Australians. Whether it’s reaching for the humble banana or another healthy snack, the fact of the matter is that Australians need to be taught to make better choices with our nutrition if we’re going to make any headway into tackling obesity in Aussie kids.
