Feeding our Futures - a great start

Feeding our Futures - a great start.

Media release – 24 May 2007

The Obesity Action Coalition, The Cancer Society and the National Heart Foundation today applauded the Minister of Health’s launch of Feeding our Futures, at the Agencies for Nutrition Action Conference in Rotorua.

Leigh Sturgiss, Executive Director of the Obesity Action Coalition said, “The launch of the Feeding our Futures campaign provides a good platform for talking to parents and caregivers about ways they can improve their children’s nutrition within a home environment, but it is just one part of the solution that’s required to achieve any real change in reducing the risk of obesity.”

Obesity kills and disables tens of thousands of New Zealanders each year. It contributes substantially to heart disease and cancer, which are devastating diseases and our nations biggest killers.

“Parents need to be supported in ensuring children have a healthy diet rather than being held totally responsible when we know that food and beverage advertising to children has a significant effect on their food preference, purchase requests and food consumption patterns,” Dr Jan Pearson, Health Promotion Manager, Cancer Society said.

Maggie McGregor, Population Health Manager, National Heart Foundation said “our children live in a society that has changed dramatically in the three decades over which the obesity epidemic has developed. They and their parents are bombarded with messages and opportunities to buy nutrient poor foods.”

“Stronger environmental measures are needed to protect children and families from the risk of obesity and one of the ways of achieving that is children should be protected from exposure to advertising that promotes consumption of foods that are inconsistence with a healthy diet. Stronger restrictions regarding the marketing of energy dense, nutrient poor foods to children are needed. The recent introduction of a voluntary advertising code by the New Zealand Television Broadcasters Council do not go far enough, for example they do not recognise the fact the children are watching television outside the designated children’s viewing hours,” said Ms Sturgiss.

“Government has a responsibility to develop policy frameworks that ensure responsible food advertising. Legislative change is needed to alter the obesogenic environment, and the social issues that determine health status,” Ms Sturgiss said.

ENDS

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