Removing unhealthy food and drink advertising from government-owned buses, trains and trams
From the food we see advertised to what’s affordable and available, these factors influence our choices - especially for children.
Obesity is now the leading cause of disease burden in Australia, and it’s driven by more than just personal decisions.
From 1 July, you’ll no longer see ads for chocolate, lollies, confectionary, desserts, ice creams, soft drinks, chips and other unhealthy food and drinks on government-owned buses, trains, and trams.
Why? Because we’re working to create environments that make healthier choices easier to make.
Preventive Health SA Chief Executive Marina Bowshall spoke with the Sunday Mail on the new Restriction of unhealthy food and drink advertising on South Australian transit assets policy:
“We know from a 2023 Cancer Council SA study that almost 80 per cent of food and drink advertisements South Australian children see on their way to school promote unhealthy food and drinks,” Marina said.
“We know children are particularly vulnerable and susceptible to the influence of such marketing.
“We also know through decades of research that exposure to unhealthy food advertising is linked with unhealthy eating behaviours. This is particularly evident for children, so we need to take action.”
Around two thirds of the adult population and one third of children are living with overweight or obesity. Being overweight and obese leads to significant health complications and diseases like type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Obesity has now overtaken tobacco as the leading cause of burden of disease
“With 13 per cent of hospital admissions for adults aged 45 to 79 years due to overweight and obesity, we need to look at ways to reduce this so we can see fewer people being hospitalised and shorter hospital stays.
“How food is marketed, packaged, priced and formulated is the most significant factor impacting overweight and obesity. As a community we can take steps to address obesity and improve health, just as we have for smoking.”
Marina is grateful the South Australian Government is leading in Australia on this new policy, which has had positive results in other jurisdictions including London and Amsterdam. “The modelling from London is very positive and predicts incidences of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease will decrease, which in turn will result in important health and economic gains,” she says.
That improved health impact is a priority for South Australia, too. “All Australian jurisdictions have signed up to the national obesity strategy, which looks at a range of different policy, programmatic and research activity focused on reducing overweight and obesity in the community,” Marina says.
“We know that around 38 per cent of the burden of diseases across Australia could be prevented by putting in place systems, policies and programs to support the health of our community.”