Jan

5

Childhood Obesity News - Truth on childhood obesity - Sydney Morning Herald

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The recent release of the CSIRO’s Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, which studied the habits of more than 4000 children, found the number of overweight and obese children in Australia has only increased marginally since the last major survey in 1995. For too long the food and beverage industry has been labelled by some as being the sole cause of childhood obesity by providing too many high salt, high fat and high energy food products. It is the Australian food industry which has, and continues to be, at the forefront of delivering safe, healthy and affordable food to our tables. In the 1990s, Australian food companies were world leaders in reducing trans-fats from many products, with the net result that trans-fat levels in the diets of most Australians are well below World Health Organisation recommendations. The industry has therefore released the Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative, which commits manufacturers to not advertise to children under 12 unless the products promote healthy dietary and lifestyles choices. The point I seek to make is that it is easy to play the blame game but finding solutions to serious problems is hard - and credible solutions to serious public health problems is harder again. Read Childhood Obesity

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