Coca-Cola made headlines this week with a new television advertising campaign. It begins with a voice-over: “We’d like people to come together on something that concerns all of us – obesity”. The ad then…
If policymakers understood what drives people to drink sugary drinks, they make take a different approach.
Ava Rose
Policymakers should understand the urge to drink soft drinks is genetically determined, rather than being solely a lifestyle choice, argue endocrinologists from the Garvin Institute of Medical Research…
High salt diets make children more likely to drink soft drinks according to new research from Deakin University.
Dion Gillard
Sugary drinks may get most of the attention in discussions about Australia’s obesity epidemic, but new research from Deakin University has found salt may be a silent contributor to the problem. The study…
Nearly three-quarters of the parents said they were pestered by their children into buying food.
EPA Sam Stephenson
While we think of junk food marketing as something that happens during television commercial breaks or on massive billboard signs, supermarkets are yet another advertising frontier for food companies…
Changes in the level of children’s physical activity is not solely responsible for the obesity epidemic.
Brent Danley
As public health researchers who’ve worked with government, non-governmental organisations, schools, childcare organisations, families and children to understand the complexity of obesity and effective…
Research shows sports sponsorship works to improve brand recall and positive attitudes among children and adolescents.
Over the weekend, Australian children and their parents witnessed some of the country’s finest sportsmen display feats of strength, skill and endurance in the Australian Football League (AFL) and National…
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has just finished hearing submissions in a case against McDonald’s opening an outlet in the town of Tecoma. The case is part of a growing trend of…
Here’s an idea for improving the health of our children: let them play more videogames. Obesity has numerous health risks and it is most frightening in children as early learned behaviours will last throughout…
Rather than criticising parents of fat children, it’s more productive to confront the wider issues of neglect and social inequality.
Flickr/Jake Folsom
Should a child’s obese body be used as evidence to support their removal from their parents’ care? According to a recent report in The Age newspaper, the Children’s Court of Victoria thinks so. Victoria’s…
More than 75% of Australians support a ban on junk food advertising in children’s television, and almost 20% support a total ban, according to a poll by the Australian National University on attitudes…
Children born to obese mothers carry the risk of disease and increased fat deposits from very early in life, but a new study shows that exercise can almost completely undo the adverse metabolic effects…
The sooner we understand the risk factors that make children vulnerable to obesity, the more traction we can gain to reduce this number.
D. Sharon Pruitt
In Australia, girls in single-parent families are at a higher risk of being overweight or obese than children in dual-parent families. This fits with recent research findings from the United States showing…
The multi-country study concluded that in Australia, television advertising’s contribution to childhood obesity is between 10% and 28%.
Maggie Osterberg
A recent complaint to the Advertising Standards Board by the Obesity Policy Coalition about a Smarties online colouring-in competition aimed at three- to ten-year-olds, and a bill introduced by Greens…