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    Home > Resource hub > Roadmap to tackle obesity prevention

Roadmap to tackle obesity prevention

In an Australian first, this project examined how national, state and territory policies for addressing unhealthy diets and obesity measure up against international best practice. Read this Findings Brief PDF for a summary of the key findings and relevance for policy and practice.
  • Roadmap to tackle obesity prevention

    Resource category:

    Findings Brief Findings Brief

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Key messages

  • Unhealthy diets are causing a public health crisis. They are one of the leading contributors to poor health and chronic disease in Australia.
  • In an Australian first, this project conducted a systematic analysis of Australia’s policies for addressing unhealthy diets and obesity. It looked at how national, state and territory policies measure up against international best practice and identified recommendations for each jurisdiction.
  • The project found Australia is leading the world in some policies to improve population nutrition, including key aspects of food labelling (such as regulations regarding health claims, and the development of the Health Star Rating system); keeping nutritious food GST-free; and the regular monitoring of population body weight.
  • However, Australia is falling behind international best practice in other critical areas.
  • States and territories vary in their level of implementation of internationally recommended policies.
  • There is a wide range of actions that each government in Australia could take to address unhealthy diets and obesity.
  • This study identified critical action areas for Australian governments to tackle the rise of obesity through unhealthy diets, including:
    • Developing a national strategy and implementation plan to improve population nutrition
    • Imposing taxes to increase the price of unhealthy foods (especially sugary drinks)
    • Introducing regulations to reduce exposure of children to marketing of unhealthy food.
Details

DATE 16 Feb 2017

TYPE Findings Brief

Prevention experts

  • Associate Professor Gary Sacks

    Deakin University
    Headshot of Gary Sacks

Topics

  • Healthy eating ,
  • Overweight and obesity ,

Prevention methodologies

  • Regulation and governance ,

Related projects

  • Benchmarking obesity policies in Australia

    Overweight figurine standing against an oversized tape measure

Related resources

  • Food marketing to children: the claims and the evidence

    Resource category: Factsheets Factsheets
    Date 08 Jul 2016
  • How Australian governments can achieve best practice in obesity policy

    Resource category: Videos Videos
    Date 26 Jul 2017
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  • Public health law, regulation and policy for prevention

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Acknowledgement of Country

The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.

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Funding Partners

The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre is funded by the NHMRC, Australian Government Department of Health, ACT Health, Cancer Council Australia, NSW Ministry of Health, Wellbeing SA, Tasmanian Department of Health, and VicHealth. The Australian Government also contributed through the Medical Research Future Fund. Queensland Health became a financial contributor in 2022. The Prevention Centre is administered by the Sax Institute.

©2022 The Sax Institute.

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