Call to restrict unhealthy food marketing to kids

Ten per cent of New Zealand children and 30 per cent of adults are obese. Photo / Thinkstock

The marketing of unhealthy foods to children and adolescents must be further restricted to help control obesity, according to a broad cross section of New Zealand public health experts.

This idea gained the greatest support among a list of policies to tackle obesity in young people that was considered by a panel of 52 experts for research done by Auckland University.

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It was also in second place in a wider ranking of priority actions considered by the panel for improvement of health in people of all ages.

One of the researchers, Stefanie Vandevijvere, said the other top policies picked by the panel that would be important for reducing the obesity rate of young people were ensuring schools and early childhood education centres were free of commercial promotion of unhealthy foods, ensuring they did not sell unhealthy foods, and imposing a 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks.

Ten per cent of New Zealand children and 30 per cent of adults are obese.

Dr Vandevijvere said, "The healthy food policies needing to be implemented were especially apparent in the areas of reducing the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, healthy school food policies and using fiscal policies like taxes on sugary drinks, to influence food choices."

She said the Government had signalled it wanted to make a genuine effort to reverse New Zealand's unacceptably high rate of childhood obesity. The four child-related policies picked as priority actions by the panel "really need to be a central part of the Government's plans for that to be successful."

The six policies which attracted the greatest support the of panel were, in order of support:

1.That the Government set salt-content targets for certain food groups and a standard for fatty acid content of commercial deep frying fats,

2. Further restrictions on marketing unhealthy food to young people, including sports sponsorship and television advertising,

3. Ensuring schools and ECE centres are free of commercial promotion of unhealthy foods,

4. No sales of unhealthy foods in schools and ECE centres,

5. Mandatory front-of-pack star rating of packaged foods if not voluntarily adopted by the food industry,

6. A 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks.

The research is published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation.