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Baillieu Government’s obesity plan needs teeth

28 August 2011
 
The Baillieu Government’s new childhood obesity strategy is a welcome first step but lacks the enforcement mechanisms necessary to reduce rapidly increasing rates of obesity, AMA Victoria President Dr Harry Hemley said today.
“A healthy eating advisory service is all well and good, but our schools already have healthy eating guidelines in place. The problem is they are not being enforced by the Government,” said Dr Hemley. “Figures released last year showed that 321 of Victoria’s 1787 primary schools (13%) were not complying with the healthy canteen guidelines.”
 
“The Government must start to enforce the mandatory healthy canteen guidelines for schools which include a ban on the sale of confectionary and soft drinks. The failure to enforce these guidelines results in many children being provided with unhealthy eating options day in, day out.
 
“The Government should also publicly release the names of those schools that aren’t complying so that parents are aware of what’s being sold to their children.
 
“In Victoria nearly half of adults and one quarter of children are overweight or obese. This imposes significant costs not only on the health system and the community, but also on overweight and obese individuals.
 
“While awareness campaigns, healthy eating advice services and research collaborations are valuable, they’re not enough to change the unhealthy habits of many Victorians,” said Dr Hemley. “There are other simple steps that the Government can take to help reduce obesity in both children and adults.”
 Over the last year AMA Victoria has called for a number of initiatives to tackle obesity. These include:

  • A traffic light food labelling system to help people control their weight and encourage food companies to sell healthier foods.
  • A ban on junk food in all government buildings.
  • Increased funding for hospitals to purchase specialist equipment to treat, diagnose and transport the rising number of morbidly obese Victorians presenting to the state’s public hospitals.
  • Increased access to taxpayer-funded gastric banding surgery for morbidly obese Victorians.
  • Increased sporting and recreational facilities particularly in outer suburban growth areas.
  • A long term obesity plan developed in consultation with the medical profession.

AMA Victoria calls on the Baillieu Government to implement these policies in order to make a real impact on obesity rates.
 

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