MOST Australians support "traffic light" labelling on foods and banning junk food ads during children's TV.
The study found 87 per cent of 1500 Australians surveyed would
support colour-coding on packaged food to indicate healthier options.
Of
those surveyed, 83 per cent agreed with a ban on advertising junk foods
on TV during popular children viewing times, but only 56 per cent
supported a total ban on advertising unhealthy foods.
The study by
the Cancer Council Victoria and Obesity Policy Coalition, published in
the Health Promotion Journal of Australia, questioned the main grocery
shopper in 1511 households nationwide.
People aged 18 to 64 took
part but those who nominated themselves as the household's grocery
shopper were usually women aged between 35 to 54 years.
Most
participants (84 per cent) were also in favour of kilojoule information
displays at fast-food outlets and 87 per cent supported regulations for
food companies to reduce the fat, sugar and salt content of processed
foods.
Almost all of those surveyed - 97 per cent - supported restricting
junk food marketing to children via email and mobile phone text
messages, while 93 per cent thought it should be restricted in magazines
and 89 per cent supported restrictions on websites.
Taxing
unhealthy food was not as popular, unless the money was used to make
healthy food more affordable, with 71 per cent supporting this option.
The
study's authors said the research showed there was strong public
support for tougher food labelling and advertising regulations.
"There's
high support for government to intervene, but particularly high support
among those new (technology) platforms," said co-author Jane Martin
from the Obesity Policy Coalition.
"Children are not being
adequately protected, and parents are limited in their ability to
intervene, particularly with new technologies such as mobile phones and
computers," she said.
Front-of-pack colour-coded food labelling
systems have been recommended by a recent Australian government review,
with a decision expected by the end of 2012.
New rules about
marketing fast food to children on television were introduced in August
2009, but a review last year found the voluntary code had failed to
reduce the number of junk food ads.
Meanwhile, the federal
government's Food and Health Dialogue group encourages companies to
reduce the amount of salt in foods such as bread, soups, sauces and
pies.
Kellogg's recently announced it would reduce the amount of salt in its cornflakes and rice bubbles by 20 per cent.
