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Channel 7 was reprimanded by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after using a McDonalds’ playground as the backdrop to its logo during a children’s television program.

The ACMA made the decision that the station identifier was really an advertisement for McDonalds and breached the Children’s Television Standards 2009.

It’s strange that a company like McDonalds wasn’t consulted on such a material breach of the code by Channel 7 when it was creating the station identifier.

According to McDonalds’ own statement (from the THE RESPONSIBLE ADVERTISING AND MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS TO CHILDREN INITIATIVE), the fast food giant has: “voluntarily reduced our advertising during children’s television programs by 60 per cent.”

This is yet another example of why self-regulation doesn’t work. Only last November there was another breach by Nestle. The whole premise of stopping advertising during children’s programming is that kids can be easily influenced and lack the maturity to make informed decisions about their diet.

The Initiative for Responsible Advertising and Marketing to Children, formulated by the advertising and broadcasting industry and key stakeholders in the food industry, aimed to preempt the possibility of legislation being introduced as recommended by the Preventative Health Taskforce.

Written by Andrew Talati

In a major step forward, we’re seeing fast food companies finally taking some responsibility and removing novelty toys from children’s meals.

With childhood obesity spiraling out of control we’re faced with the very real threat that, by 2020, 65% of our children will be overweight or obese.

What we’re seeing is a new generation of parents accustomed to the frequent consumption of takeaway food during their own childhood.

The placement of toys, novelty items and other pester-based items in children’s meals has long proven hugely successful in increasing patronage of fast food outlets. For instance, McDonalds has branded children’s play sets that include hamburgers and french fries.  Such  strategies are designed to build brand loyalty for life.

Until now, there has been  a great deal of resistance to the removal of such influential merchandising – a highly contentious issue for government health strategies. The bottom line? Removing novelty toys has a negative effect on profits.

But now it’s great to see things changing. Corporate Affairs Manager at KFC, Zav Rich, has lead the way, saying it was, “the right thing to do.”

What we’re witnessing is the slow realisation by  large multinational companies that their current model of using pester power to boost profits   not sustainable in the future. The time is nearing when the government will legislate to regulate those industries that sell food high in sugar, salt and fat.

I would be surprised if the other fast food players don’t foolow suit. Any reluctance to act responsibly will lead simply to government regulation.

What we need is for the government to follow recommendations from the National Preventative Health Task Force and ban the sale or promotion of toys and other novelty items to drive sales of products targeted at children.

Written by Andrew Talati

The child obesity rate in Australia is  disturbing. It currently stands at 25% of children being overweight or obese with a big contributing factor being the intake of too many processed foods.

According to the Australasian Society for the study of obesity conducted between 1985 and 1995, the overweight/obese rates for children almost tripled over a ten-year period.

There is overwhelming evidence to support that the latest generation will be the first generation that has a lower life expectancy than their parents. The most disturbing consequence of this alarming statistic is that this leads to psychosocial problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type II diabetes, asthma and sleep apnea. While the mechanics of this comes down to the simple equation of energy intake versus energy expenditure we can break the equation down into 4 main areas:

Energy Intake:
1.Genetic factors
2.Unhealthy eating habits
Energy Expenditure
3.lifestyle and environmental factors 4.Lack of physical activity

One overwhelming factor seems to be the high level of processed foods we are consuming as a society.

As we become more affluent and time poor we are turning to processed and take away food as an alternative to cooking at home.

While there may be a belief that it’s cheaper to buy processed/takeaway food, it’s a misconception. Buying the basics – fruit, vegetables and meat – is not only cheaper, your body will thank you for it, too.

Written by Andrew Talati

Is freedom of choice killing us? With Obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease rates rising is having a free market with no rules/limited regulation or self regulation creating an unhealthy nation.

While there is continued debate regarding the marketing of unhealthy food products, food labeling and other policies to reverse the current trends there are those who advocate that we should have the freedom to eat what we want when we want.

However if you look at the big picture is having an open, free market leading to positive long-term outcomes for the nation.
You can go to KFC and buy the double down burger which may seem fantastic but what is the real cost? Or a family meal for under $20 from McDonalds, a meal which is full of high levels of fat, sugar and salt can be freely available in an open market without restrictions or regulation?

Is the marketing of highly processed foods containing high levels of fats, sugar and salt to an unsuspecting consumer a good thing?

However have we lost our capacity to make informed decisions as to the long-term health of society.

There are many examples where having an open market and giving people freedom in certain liberties to choose what products to buy and what price.
This may seem fantastic in the short term for example the dumping of cheap fruit and vegetables on the Australian market however in the long term the true cost is becoming dependent on to 2 major retailers and destroying the local agricultural industry.
In the long term we pay higher prices and have less fresh fruit and vegetables.

Cigarette advertising is another example where regulation leads to lower consumption which in the long term reduces the incidences of lung cancer and other smoking related deaths.
People are aware of the dangers but still choose to smoke so regulation is a necessary evil.

So is having unlimited, unregulated really that great in the long term?

Written by Andrew Talati

Educating children about the benefits of healthy eating can start with showing kids how to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

What children learn from a young age can set the habits and behavior for later on in life as adults.

Ultimately parents need to take some responsibility for educating their children with healthy eating habits. This starts with an appreciation and understanding of the basics such as consuming plenty of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis.

An awesome initiative by Stephanie Alexander involves helping primary schools students growing their own vegetables in the schoolyard and harvesting their produce for cooking in the school’s kitchen.

This initiative spans 180 schools across Australia and involves children age from 8 to 12 years of age.

Today the Commonwealth government has contributed $12.8 million in supporting this invaluable program. These costs help offset any specialised staff and additional infrastructure that may be required in the food production process.

However the program only reaches a small minority of schools cross Australia, while the majority of the 6000 schools missing out.

Once again it comes down to budgetary constraints with very limited funding for a program that has the potential to have a positive effect on reducing Australia’s high proportion of people overweight and obese.

With an alarming 60% of Australians now overweight or obese with me to curtail this alarming statistic by starting by educating children.

It seems the government has the funds to squander $7.5 billion on Victoria’s appalling public transport system since it was privatised in 1999 or the $50 million per year that the Australian GrandPrix costs the Victorian taxpayer.

Surely such initiatives that affect the long-term health of our country deserve a higher allocation of funds.

While fruit and vegetables serve as the foundation for a child’s diet, many parents have experienced it can be a challenging task to get kids to eat their greens.

By giving children a greater understanding of how the fruit and vegetables are produced from a single seed/sapling, cultivation, harvesting and consuming what they produce, there is a greater probability of success as more sensors are associated with the process.

For children having the sense of touch with the plants, cultivating the smell of the garden, and the richness, tastes and smell one gets from freshly grown vegetables it helps children have lifelong associations with fruit and vegetables.

There are also other benefits that children learn responsibility as the plants must be tended to on a daily basis.

Ultimately it is about sending a positive messages about nutritious eating habits that will carry through to adulthood.