Major Australian supermarkets have been put on notice for unhealthy food promotion following a study by a Victorian university.
The research out of Deakin University found that all of the major supermarkets were “red-flagged” by a new national food dashboard designed to track the key driver of high obesity rates in Australia.
Associate Professor Gary Sacks said supermarkets were guilty of over-promoting, discounting and displaying unhealthy foods.
“Unhealthy diets are leading contributors to poor health in Australia,” he said on Wednesday.
“Our diets are so bad because wherever we go, unhealthy food is pushed at us.”
“At Australian supermarkets, it is almost impossible to pay for groceries without being exposed to unhealthy food and drinks,” he added.
“Unhealthy products are ‘on special’ almost twice as often as healthy foods, and the discounts on unhealthy foods are much larger than the discounts on healthier foods.”
A Woolworths spokesperson said the supermarket chain worked hard to “make healthier choices easier and more affordable for our customers, but there is always more we can do”.
“We’re promoting good eating habits from an early age and have given away more than 100 million pieces of fruit through our Free Fruit for Kids program.
“We also invest millions promoting Australian grown fresh fruit and vegetables to help customers eat well and save by shopping seasonally.”
7NEWS.com.au has also contacted Coles for comment.
The Food Environment Dashboard, being launched later on Wednesday, summarises key indicators of the healthiness of food environments.
“The Dashboard is designed to provide easy-to-access information for anyone interested in understanding ways to improve population diets and will be especially useful for informing policy makers at all levels of government,” Sacks said.
“For the first time, we have a really clear picture of all the ways our environment drives us to consume too much of the wrong types of foods. It shows the need for much stronger policy action from all levels of government in Australia to create healthier food environments.”
Key findings
Other key findings from the research show:
- Children see an average of 10 ads for unhealthy food each hour that they’re online. On TV, children are exposed to unhealthy food ads more than twice as often as healthy foods ads.
- Almost two thirds of outdoor food ads promote unhealthy foods, and unhealthy food ads are more common in the most-disadvantaged communities compared with least-disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
- The cost of a healthy diet is simply unaffordable for people on low incomes living in rural or remote areas. In these regions, healthy diets cost more than 30 per cent of household income.
The results of the dashboard show how the processed food industry is shaping Australian diets, says Dr Jane Martin, Executive Manager of the Obesity Policy Coalition.
“This is the first time such a comprehensive set of data has been collected and presented. It represents a significant step change in how we see and understand our food environments,” Dr Martin said.
“These red flags show an urgent need for governments to introduce higher standards for how the food industry markets and sells its unhealthy food and drink products.
“The National Obesity Strategy, now overdue, provides the framework for Government to put Australians’ health above food industry profits and enhance the health and wellbeing of millions of Australians.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiggFodHRwczovLzduZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9saWZlc3R5bGUvc2hvcHBpbmcvYXVzdHJhbGlhbi1zdXBlcm1hcmtldHMtcmVkLWZsYWdnZWQtZm9yLXVuaGVhbHRoeS1mb29kLXByb21vdGlvbi1hdC10aGUtY2hlY2tvdXQtYy0zMTIzOTI20gEA?oc=5
2021-06-16 00:00:00Z
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