Diet & Health Issues

Obesity and overweight is a major issue globally. Governments are grappling with ways to deal with the increase in obesity related illnesses, as well as the social and economic costs.  More recently the focus has shifted to preventative health and helping people to eat well and be active.

The Australian food and beverage industry is keen to play its part and has adopted Nutrition and Health Strategy with initiatives aimed at helping Australians maintain a balanced diet.  

To help people balance their dietary needs, industry provides a range of nutritious choices and reduced portion sizes with low-joule, low-fat, low-sugar and low-salt foods available throughout supermarkets.  Companies agreed to offer consumers a range of portion sizes to help reduce over-consumption, as well as using information on packaging to tell people about what constitutes an appropriate portion size.

We are also committed to helping consumers make informed choices that best meet their nutrition and activity needs. One of the ways that we achieve this is through labelling. In 2006, the Australian food and beverage industry adopted Daily Intake Guide Labelling on front-of-pack to make it easier for people to see how much energy and nutrients a serve of food provides.   Currently, there are more than 2000 products in the marketplace carrying Daily Intake Guide Labelling.  Click here for more information.

AFGC also contributed $1 million to the National Children’s Diet and Physical Activity Survey that was jointly funded by government. The survey results were released in October 2008 and show that most children aged 2-16 (72 %) are of a healthy weight, but that 17% are overweight, 6% obese and 5% are underweight.  Click here for more information.

Industry has also made a commitment to being responsible advertisers, supporting both the  AANA’s Food and Beverage Advertising and Marketing Communications Code  and AFGC’s Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative. Click here for more information about Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative.