The role of Australia’s governments in promoting healthy eating

The role of government in promoting healthy eating

• The Australian government has been promoting healthy eating to the general public for the past 75 years. In 1992 the Australian Food and Nutrition Policy was endorsed, which aims to reduce the burden of preventable diet-related death, illness and disabilities.

• From this policy, the government developed specific strategies to promote healthy eating including:

• nutrition surveys• nutrient reference values• Australian dietary guidelines• Australian Guide to Healthy Eating• safety and quality legislation – nutrient and health claims.

Relationship between the Australian government’s healthy eating strategies

NUTRITION SURVEYSNUTRITION SURVEYS

• A nutrition survey gathers information about what people eat and the nutrient content of the food.

• These surveys are not conducted often because they are very costly and time-consuming.

• The last one was in 2007 (National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2007)

Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey

objectives of the survey:• reported food and nutrient intake• physical activity levels• weight, height and waist circumference• Survey children aged between two and 16 yrs• Results help the government to determine areas

of concern and work with groups in the community to promote healthy lifestyles, incorporating healthy eating.

Refer to page218-222

• Question: outline two ways that the results from nutrition surveys could be used by any level of government to promote healthy eating. ( 2 marks)

• Hint You should include two ways that the results of nutrition surveys can assist in promoting healthy eating for two marks, not just give an outline of how surveys are used.

• Eg: The results could assist governments to develop and implement policies around a range of areas related to children’s exposure to food such as healthy school canteen policies, energy dense foods to children or regulations around advertising.

• The state government could use the results as evidence to support the funding of a range of health promotion activities through the media and in schools to increase intakes of fruit and vegetables, milk and milk products, and reductions in the consumption of saturated fat and salt.

• Questions: Explain how the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating could be used to address one of the key nutrition findings of the survey.

• Hint: relate your discussion of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating back to one of the key findings of the survey which could include a reference to obesity and overweight, the consumption of fruit, vegetables, saturated fat, calcium, sodium or magnesium.

Answer• The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recognises the

importance of vegetables in a healthy diet and recommends the consumption of two to four servings of vegetables each day for children aged 4–7 years; three to five servings of vegetables each day for children aged 8–11 years; and four to nine servings of vegetables each day for adolescents (12–18 years). Most of the children and adolescents surveyed need to increase their intake of vegetables and perhaps could substitute foods high in saturated fat with vegetables and legumes. Vegetables should make up 30% of children’s food intake.

National Nutrition Survey 1995

Purpose:• provide food and nutrient data to assist with

the development and implementation of the Food and Nutrition Policy for Australia.

• Use data to revise government nutrition initiatives, such as the Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs) for use in Australia and the Dietary Guidelines

Nutrient Reference ValuesThe nutrient reference values (NRV) refer to the recommended

intake of 36 nutrients, as well as energy requirements. The original recommended dietary intake (RDI) for use in Australia were initially developed in 1991 to guide nutritional intake on a population basis. RDI were updated to NRV in 2006 to minimise miss use

The information provided by the NRV is very detailed each nutrient may have up to four different sets of values. These are written as:

• 1 estimated average requirement (EAR)• 2 recommended dietary intake (RDI)• 3 adequate intake (AI)• 4 upper level of intake (UL).)

How the NRV are used• large-scale caterers for meal planning – for example, in hospitals, in

nursing homes and for armed forces – who may be catering for many people with special dietary requirements

• food industry companies for devising new food products: the NRV give specific nutrient information that they may use to promote their product and are especially relevant if companies want to promote the nutrient and health benefits of a new food product

• government sector in setting food policy and legislation such as about food labeling; they may also use the NRV to determine the number of serves allocated for a particular food in a food guide such as the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating

• health professionals such as dieticians and doctors for assessing the nutritional adequacy of diets of individuals or groups and promoting healthy eating to reduce diet-related disease.

• assessing information gathered from surveys, such as from the 2007 Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey.

Food legislation In Australia all food safety and quality requirements

are covered under the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code. This code has been developed and administered by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, known as FSANZ.

The code focuses on a range of areas including:• Food labelling and the use of additives• Food safety• Food standards• Food surveillance and food recall• Nutrient and health claims.

Food standards• Food standards are legal requirements with

which food companies and retailers must comply in relation to the manufacture, labelling, processing and sale of food.

• The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code develops standards on:

• food labelling • Food composition, provide information about what is in

the food• standards for primary production• legal requirements for pesticide residues and chemical

contaminants. • food safety-is managed at all stages of the food supply

chain, from paddock to plate.• universal code inAustralia

Food labellingIn Australia, food labels must contain the following 12

items1 Nutrition information panel

2 Percentage labelling3 Name or description of the food4 Food recall information5 Information for allergy sufferers6 Date marking7 Ingredient list8 Labels must tell the truth9 Food additives10 Legibility requirements11 Directions for use and storage12 Country of origin..

• http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/labellingoffood/interactivelabelpost3614.cfm

Food standards• Pg 233- 241• One of the responsibilities of Food Standards

Australia and New Zealand is to develop and administer the ‘Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code’.

• Under this Code there are requirements for the general labelling of foods.

• a. Identify and describe two examples of information that must be included on the labels of most packaged foods.

Food safety

• Food safety laws are the responsibility of the States and Territories, in accordance with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code

What are the requirements of the Code?

• The Code is divided into 4 Chapters:• Chapter 1 - General Food Standards includes regulations that apply to most foods, e.g.

labelling requirements, substances that can be added to food and safety of materials in contact with food. This Chapter also includes permissions for new foods, limits for chemical and microbiological contaminants and maximum residue limits of veterinary and chemical residues in foods.

• Chapter 2 - Food Product Standards includes compositional requirements for specific foods e.g. meat, eggs, fish and alcoholic beverages.

• Chapter 3 - Food Safety Standards includes requirements for food handlers wherever food is sold and applies only in Australia e.g. good food safety practices such as training staff, keeping food at the correct temperature, washing hands and keeping equipment clean.

• Chapter 4 - Primary Production Standards also only applies in Australia. This chapter includes primary production and processing standards for agricultural commodities such as seafood, poultry meat, specific cheeses, wine and dairy products.

Dietary Guidelines • The Dietary Guidelines have information about the types and amounts of foods,

food groups and dietary patterns that aim to:• promote health and wellbeing;• reduce the risk of diet-related conditions, such as high cholesterol, high blood

pressure and obesity; and• reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular

disease and some types of cancers.• The Dietary Guidelines are for use by health professionals, policy makers,

educators, food manufacturers, food retailers and researchers, so they can find ways to help Australians eat healthy diets.

• The Dietary Guidelines apply to all healthy Australians, as well as those with common health conditions such as being overweight. They do not apply to people who need special dietary advice for a medical condition, or to the frail elderly.

Australian Guide to Healthy Eating

• This is a practical guide on the types and amounts of foods to be consumed every day. It will help average Australians and their clinicians work out the foods they should eat each day based on age, gender and activity level.

• http://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/page/about-guidelines

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and Dietary Guidelines

Current Nutrition Activities• Remote Indigenous Stores and Takeaways (RIST) Project• This three year project supported by the National Public Health

Partnership as a part of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy and Action Plan 2000-2010 (NATSINSAP), aimed to improve access to good quality, affordable, healthy foods, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The RIST project has developed resources for store managers designed to support the increased supply, promotion and sale of healthy food and drinks and evaluated these across identified store and takeaway trial sites. The project is funded by a number of jurisdictions (Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia, as well as the Australian Government).

National Healthy School Canteens Project

• Under the Australian Better Health Initiative, funding has been provided for a National Healthy School Canteens Project. This Project aims to assist school canteens to provide healthy food choices and consequently, promote good health through healthy eating to reduce levels of obesity and chronic diseases later in life. Flinders Partners has been contracted by the Department to undertake this Project which will see the development of a nationally consistent approach to making healthy food available in school canteens.

The Project consists of three components: a national food categorisation system for school canteens; training materials for canteen staff; and an evaluation framework.