Jeremy Irwin: Food business can help fix fat woes

COMMENT

In New Zealand, the Greens have turned themselves inside out trying to discredit a food industry initiative intended to help combat obesity.

In Australia, anti-obesity activists have attacked a federal Government study into young people's exercise habits.

Here, part of the Greens' beef is that television cartoons advocating healthy eating and exercise will use a character provided by McDonald's, even though there is nothing in the character to link it with the fast-food operator, not even a brand.

Across the Tasman, the issue is that Coca-Cola was responsible for some of the funding.

Both episodes are skirmishes in a battle for the hearts and minds of consumers and voters. These are, in themselves, mere sideshows to a wider and deeper conflict over how much the state should intervene in people's lives by determining what they can and cannot, or should and should not, eat.

One of the main tactics of advocates for intervention is to marginalise the opposition. An appealing way to do this is to tap into people's apprehension about the motives of "big business".

Nobody would accept that the local fish and chip shop was part of an international conspiracy, extracting exorbitant profits at the expense of our rapidly expanding waistline. But a multinational company? That's a different story. When the arguments or issues being advanced do not suit the agenda, it is politically astute to invoke the international bogeyman.

The study produced for the Australian Sports Commission came to the unpalatable conclusion (from the perspective of the activists) that inactivity is more to blame for rising childhood obesity than diet.

The study's lead author, Dr Tim Olds, of the University of South Australia's school of health sciences, said in terms of what had happened historically, there was overwhelming evidence that decreased physical activity was responsible. It is not surprising this outcome has stuck in the craw of the activists. It is, of course, much easier to control what people eat than the amount of exercise they take.

But I do not want to get involved in the argument except to make this point: from a business perspective, it is completely unfair to banish business to the sidelines and then criticise it for not participating in finding a solution.

The reality is that companies exist to make a profit and their brands are immensely important. And what is far and away the greatest contributor to the value of brands? The loyalty and goodwill of the customer, of course.

So, far from expecting consumers to be blindly accepting of food calculated to make them unhealthy, food manufacturers and distributors want New Zealanders to eat well and be well.

Rather than being told what they can and cannot eat by way of bans and taxes, individuals want to retain responsibility for making their own choices.

This does not mean the food industry shrinks from accountability. It means that it wants to be part of the process by which people make educated and responsible choices about what they eat.

It looked for a way to record its commitment to the fight against obesity and found it in the food industry accord signed on September 2. It is thought to be a world first. More than 100 companies in a wide range of food-related sectors have signed and more are expected over time. They range from multinational companies like Nestle New Zealand to supermarket chains and small, locally owned advertising agencies.

Health Minister Annette King predicted the accord would have its detractors. That was why the industry had to demonstrate beneficial effects from it.

How right she was. The Greens have labelled the accord a public relations exercise. Some exercise, when the initiatives include:

* A review by the Advertising Standards Authority of its codes for advertising to children and of food, which will involve consultation with the community.

* Co-operation between the National Heart Foundation and the food industry to tackle sodium levels in packaged foods.

* A joint initiative by the food industry and the Counties-Manukau District Health Board involving the district becoming the national pilot site for the accord.

* An educational TV project that aims to provide straightforward information to young people in a form which will encourage healthy eating and health action.

If the food industry is part of the problem, it is also very much part of the solution. Obesity involves so many people that moving forward by consensus is the only way to go. The public, especially those overweight or under-exercised, will be the beneficiaries.

* Jeremy Irwin is the executive director of the Association of Advertisers.