Australia: the healthiest country by 2020
National Preventative Health Strategy - Overview
Obesity
Table of contents
- Chair's Foreword
- The purpose of the Strategy; What is in the Strategy?
- The need for urgent, comprehensive, prioritised and sustained action; What will be different because of the Strategy?
- Prevention works; Progressive, staged and comprehensive action
The Strategy – summarised, prioritised and phased- The conceptual framework for the Preventative Health Strategy
Strategic directions- Ensuring effective implementation – the national infrastructure for prevention
- Conclusion – a call to action
- References
- Acknowledgements
First phase (2010–2013)
1. Drive environmental changes throughout the community to increase levels of physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour
- Establish a Prime Minister’s Council for Active Living and develop and implement a National Framework for Active Living encompassing local government, urban planning, building industry and developers, designers, health, transport, sport and active recreation
- Develop a business case for a new COAG National Partnership Agreement on Active Living
- Conduct research on economic barriers and enablers, policies and tax incentives to inform a national active living framework and actions
2. Drive change within the food supply to increase the availability and demand for healthier food products, and decrease the availability and demand for unhealthy food products
- Develop and implement a comprehensive National Food and Nutrition Framework
- Commission a review of economic policies and taxation systems, and develop methods for using taxation, grants, pricing, incentives and/or subsidies to promote production, access to and consumption of healthier foods
- Establish a Healthy Food Compact between governments, industry and non-government to drive change within food supply; develop voluntary targets
- Work with industry, health and consumer groups to introduce food labelling on front of pack and menus to support healthier food choices with easy to understand information on energy, sugar, fat, saturated fats, salt and trans fats, and a standard serve/portion size within three years.
3. Embed physical activity and healthy eating in everyday life
Fund, implement and promote comprehensive programs for workplaces that support healthy eating, promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour.Workplaces
- Develop a national accord to establish best practice workplace programs, including: protecting privacy of employees, workplace risk monitoring, risk assessment or risk modification programs
- Establish a voluntary industry scorecard, benchmarking and award scheme for workplace health
- Establish nationally agreed accreditation standards for providers of workplace health programs
- Establish a national action research project to strengthen evidence of effective workplace health promotion programs in the Australian context
- Establish a national workplace health leadership program and a series of resources, tools and best practice guidelines
- Commission a review of potential legislative changes to promote take-up of workplace health programs
- Investigate the feasibility of rewarding employers – through grants or tax incentives – for achieving and sustaining benchmark risk factor profiles in their workforce
Schools
Fund, implement and promote school programs that encourage physical activity and enable healthy eating.- Incorporate Health and Physical Education (HPE) for all Australian children into the second stage of National Curriculum development
- Australian and state governments to establish a national program to support implementation of the new curriculum, including teacher curriculum guidance and professional development opportunities
- Expand the coverage of out-of-school care health programs such as Active After School, Eat Smart, Play Smart
Communities
- Establish, as part of the COAG Healthy Communities initiative, a national series of comprehensive five-year intervention trials in 10 to 12 communities (including low SES and Indigenous communities)
- Establish partnerships with the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) to develop programs that support and encourage local councils to adopt Healthy Spaces and Places planning guidelines
- Develop, pilot and implement a new Healthy and Active Families initiative
4. Encourage people to improve their levels of physical activity and healthy eating through comprehensive and effective social marketing
- Develop and work with Australian, state and territory governments to implement a comprehensive, sustained social marketing strategy to increase healthy eating and physical activity, and reduce sedentary behaviour
- Choose messages most likely to reduce prevalence in socially disadvantaged groups and provide extra reach to these groups
5. Reduce exposure of children and others to marketing, advertising, promotion and sponsorship of energy-dense nutrient-poor foods and beverages
Phase out the marketing of energy-dense nutrient-poor (EDNP) food and beverage products before 9 p.m. on free-to-air and Pay TV, and phase out premium offers, toys, competitions and the use of promotional characters, including celebrities and cartoon characters, used to market EDNP food and beverages to children within four years by:- Developing and adopting an appropriate set of definitions and criteria for determining EDNP food and beverages
- Monitoring and evaluating the impact of voluntary self-regulation in reducing children’s exposure to unhealthy food advertising
- Identifying any shortfalls with the current voluntary approach, and addressing this through the introduction of a co-regulatory agreement; monitor, evaluate and report on effectiveness of co-regulation
- Introduce legislation within four years if these measures are not demonstrated to be effective
6. Strengthen, skill and support primary healthcare and public health workforce to support people in making healthy choices
- Expand relevant allied health workforce
- Improve access to services that provide physical activity, weight loss and healthy nutritional advice and support
7. Address maternal and child health, enhancing early life and growth patterns
- Establish and implement a national program to alert and support pregnant women and those planning pregnancy to prevent lifestyle risks of excessive weight, poor nutrition, smoking and alcohol consumption
8. Support low-income communities to improve their levels of physical activity and healthy eating
- Fund, implement and promote effective and relevant strategies and programs to address specific issues experienced by people in low-income communities
- Specific actions are also referred to in key action areas 3 and 4
9. Reduce obesity prevalence and burden among Indigenous Australians
- Fund, implement and promote multi-component community-based programs in Indigenous communities
- Strengthen antenatal, maternal and child health systems for Indigenous communities
10. Build the evidence base, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of actions
- Carry out a National Risk Factor Survey in 2010
- Repeat the National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey in 2012
- NPA to work with national research agencies to establish a National Research Agenda for obesity
- Support ongoing research on effective strategies to address social determinants of obesity in Indigenous communities.
Second phase (2014–2017)
- Implement National Framework for Active Living, encompassing local government, urban planning, building industry, developers and designers, health, transport, sport and active recreation
- Use the Healthy Food Compact to continue to drive improvements within the food supply
- Implement measures agreed to under the Healthy Food Compact
Schools
- National implementation of HPE curriculum for all Australian children as part of second stage of National Curriculum development
Workplaces
- Learn from best practice and promote effective workplace health promotion programs throughout Australia
- Implement recommendations of the review of potential legislative changes to promote take-up of workplace health programs
- Implement Healthy Spaces and Places planning guidelines through partnership with ALGA
- Implement new phases of comprehensive, sustained social marketing strategy to increase healthy eating and physical activity
- Continue to phase out food and beverage marketing to which children are exposed, if self-regulation and co-regulation are demonstrated to be ineffective
Third phase (2018–2020)
- Monitor and report on progress with the implementation of the National Framework for Active Living
- Monitor and report on progress with the implementation of measures agreed to under the Healthy Food Compact
- Scale up school and workplace programs
- Scale up community interventions across Australia according to results of national trials
- Report on progress with the social marketing strategy to increase healthy eating and physical activity, and develop new phases as required