Oral Presentation ANZOS-ASLM-ICCR 2019

Australians’ support for food labelling, food promotion, and product reformulation policies   (#44)

Simone Pettigrew 1 , Liyuwork Dana 1 , Alison McAleese 2 , Steve Pratt 3 , Alice Bastable 2
  1. Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne
  3. Cancer Council WA, Perth, WA, Australia

High levels of obesity and very low levels of compliance with fruit and vegetable intake recommendations indicate that the Australian food environment is not conducive to a healthy diet. A focus on personal responsibility is not producing desired outcomes, and appropriate policy responses are therefore needed to change the environments in which consumers make food-related decisions for themselves and their families to achieve better outcomes. An aim of the 2018 Shape of Australia survey (n = 2,010 adults) was to gauge support for a range of food-related policies to assess likely receptivity should these policies be proposed or introduced. The national survey was administered online by Cancer Council Victoria and Cancer Council Western Australia via a web panel provider. Quotas were applied to achieve a well-distributed sample. Majority support was found for many suggested policy options including the listing of added sugar on food labels, the display of energy information on fast food menus, prohibiting the location of fast food outlets near schools, prohibiting junk food advertising on billboards located near schools, and prohibiting the sponsorship of children’s sport by unhealthy food and beverage companies. Few respondents considered current efforts to shield children from junk food advertising to be adequate. Support was lower for policies relating to taxes on sugary drinks.  Most respondents agreed that food manufacturers should reduce the amount of added sugar, salt, and saturated fat in their products. Given the importance of public support for regulatory change in policy-makers’ decisions, the results of this study are useful in highlighting areas where there would be strong levels of public acceptance for policies that have the potential to improve diets at the population level.