The role of Australia’s governments
in promoting healthy eating
The role of government in promoting
healthy eating
• The Australian government has been promoting healthy
eating to the general public for the past 75 years. In 1992
the Australian Food and Nutrition Policy was endorsed,
which aims to reduce the burden of preventable dietrelated death, illness and disabilities.
• From this policy, the government developed specific
strategies to promote healthy eating including:
• nutrition surveys
• nutrient reference values
• Australian dietary guidelines
• Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
• safety and quality legislation – nutrient and health claims.
Relationship between the Australian
government’s healthy eating strategies
NUTRITION SURVEYS
• A nutrition survey gathers information about
what people eat and the nutrient content of
the food.
• These surveys are not conducted often
because they are very costly and timeconsuming.
• The last one was in 2007 (National Children’s
Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2007)
Australian National Children’s
Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey
objectives of the survey:
• reported food and nutrient intake
• physical activity levels
• weight, height and waist circumference
• Survey children aged between two and 16 yrs
• Results help the government to determine areas
of concern and work with groups in the
community to promote healthy lifestyles,
incorporating healthy eating.
Refer to page218-222
• Question: outline two ways that the results
from nutrition surveys could be used by any
level of government to promote healthy
eating. ( 2 marks)
• Hint You should include two ways that the
results of nutrition surveys can assist in
promoting healthy eating for two marks, not
just give an outline of how surveys are used.
• Eg: The results could assist governments to develop and
implement policies around a range of areas related to
children’s exposure to food such as healthy school
canteen policies, energy dense foods to children or
regulations around advertising.
• The state government could use the results as evidence
to support the funding of a range of health promotion
activities through the media and in schools to increase
intakes of fruit and vegetables, milk and milk products,
and reductions in the consumption of saturated fat and
salt.
• Questions: Explain how the Australian Guide
to Healthy Eating could be used to address
one of the key nutrition findings of the
survey.
• Hint: relate your discussion of the Australian
Guide to Healthy Eating back to one of the key
findings of the survey which could include a
reference to obesity and overweight, the
consumption of fruit, vegetables, saturated
fat, calcium, sodium or magnesium.
Answer
• The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recognises the
importance of vegetables in a healthy diet and
recommends the consumption of two to four servings of
vegetables each day for children aged 4–7 years; three to
five servings of vegetables each day for children aged 8–
11 years; and four to nine servings of vegetables each day
for adolescents (12–18 years). Most of the children and
adolescents surveyed need to increase their intake of
vegetables and perhaps could substitute foods high in
saturated fat with vegetables and legumes. Vegetables
should make up 30% of children’s food intake.
National Nutrition Survey 1995
Purpose:
• provide food and nutrient data to assist with
the development and implementation of the
Food and Nutrition Policy for Australia.
• Use data to revise government nutrition
initiatives, such as the Recommended Dietary
Intakes (RDIs) for use in Australia and the
Dietary Guidelines
Nutrient Reference Values
The nutrient reference values (NRV) refer to the recommended
intake of 36 nutrients, as well as energy requirements. The
original recommended dietary intake (RDI) for use in Australia
were initially developed in 1991 to guide nutritional intake on a
population basis. RDI were updated to NRV in 2006 to minimise
miss use
The information provided by the NRV is very detailed each
nutrient may have up to four different sets of values. These are
written as:
• 1 estimated average requirement (EAR)
• 2 recommended dietary intake (RDI)
• 3 adequate intake (AI)
• 4 upper level of intake (UL).)
How the NRV are used
• large-scale caterers for meal planning – for example, in hospitals, in
nursing homes and for armed forces – who may be catering for many
people with special dietary requirements
• food industry companies for devising new food products: the NRV give
specific nutrient information that they may use to promote their
product and are especially relevant if companies want to promote the
nutrient and health benefits of a new food product
• government sector in setting food policy and legislation such as about
food labeling; they may also use the NRV to determine the number of
serves allocated for a particular food in a food guide such as the
Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
• health professionals such as dieticians and doctors for assessing the
nutritional adequacy of diets of individuals or groups and promoting
healthy eating to reduce diet-related disease.
• assessing information gathered from surveys, such as from the 2007
Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey.
Food legislation
In Australia all food safety and quality requirements
are covered under the Australian New Zealand Food
Standards Code. This code has been developed and
administered by Food Standards Australia New
Zealand, known as FSANZ.
The code focuses on a range of areas including:
• Food labelling and the use of additives
• Food safety
• Food standards
• Food surveillance and food recall
• Nutrient and health claims.
Food standards
• Food standards are legal requirements with
which food companies and retailers must
comply in relation to the manufacture,
labelling, processing and sale of food.
• The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code
develops standards on:
• food labelling
• Food composition, provide information about what is in
the food
• standards for primary production
• legal requirements for pesticide residues and chemical
contaminants.
• food safety-is managed at all stages of the food supply
chain, from paddock to plate.
• universal code inAustralia
Food labelling
In Australia, food labels must contain the following 12
items
1 Nutrition information panel
2 Percentage labelling
3 Name or description of the food
4 Food recall information
5 Information for allergy sufferers
6 Date marking
7 Ingredient list
8 Labels must tell the truth
9 Food additives
10 Legibility requirements
11 Directions for use and storage
12 Country of origin..
• http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerin
formation/labellingoffood/interactivelabelpos
t3614.cfm
Food standards
• Pg 233- 241
• One of the responsibilities of Food Standards
Australia and New Zealand is to develop and
administer the ‘Australia New Zealand Food
Standards Code’.
• Under this Code there are requirements for
the general labelling of foods.
• a. Identify and describe two examples of
information that must be included on the
labels of most packaged foods.
Food safety
• Food safety laws are the responsibility of the
States and Territories, in accordance with the
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code
What are the requirements of the
Code?
•
•
•
•
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The Code is divided into 4 Chapters:
Chapter 1 - General Food Standards includes regulations that apply to most foods, e.g.
labelling requirements, substances that can be added to food and safety of materials in
contact with food. This Chapter also includes permissions for new foods, limits for
chemical and microbiological contaminants and maximum residue limits of veterinary
and chemical residues in foods.
Chapter 2 - Food Product Standards includes compositional requirements for specific
foods e.g. meat, eggs, fish and alcoholic beverages.
Chapter 3 - Food Safety Standards includes requirements for food handlers wherever
food is sold and applies only in Australia e.g. good food safety practices such as training
staff, keeping food at the correct temperature, washing hands and keeping equipment
clean.
Chapter 4 - Primary Production Standards also only applies in Australia. This chapter
includes primary production and processing standards for agricultural commodities
such as seafood, poultry meat, specific cheeses, wine and dairy products.
Dietary Guidelines
• The Dietary Guidelines have information about the types and amounts of foods,
food groups and dietary patterns that aim to:
• promote health and wellbeing;
• reduce the risk of diet-related conditions, such as high cholesterol, high blood
pressure and obesity; and
• reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular
disease and some types of cancers.
• The Dietary Guidelines are for use by health professionals, policy makers,
educators, food manufacturers, food retailers and researchers, so they can find
ways to help Australians eat healthy diets.
• The Dietary Guidelines apply to all healthy Australians, as well as those with
common health conditions such as being overweight. They do not apply to
people who need special dietary advice for a medical condition, or to the frail
elderly.
Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
• This is a practical guide on the types and
amounts of foods to be consumed every day.
It will help average Australians and their
clinicians work out the foods they should eat
each day based on age, gender and activity
level.
• http://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/page/aboutguidelines
The Australian Guide to Healthy
Eating and Dietary Guidelines
Current Nutrition Activities
• Remote Indigenous Stores and Takeaways (RIST) Project
• This three year project supported by the National Public Health
Partnership as a part of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Nutrition Strategy and Action Plan 2000-2010 (NATSINSAP), aimed to
improve access to good quality, affordable, healthy foods, particularly
fresh fruit and vegetables in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
communities. The RIST project has developed resources for store
managers designed to support the increased supply, promotion and sale
of healthy food and drinks and evaluated these across identified store and
takeaway trial sites. The project is funded by a number of jurisdictions
(Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory,
Western Australia, as well as the Australian Government).
National Healthy School Canteens
Project
• Under the Australian Better Health Initiative, funding has been provided
for a National Healthy School Canteens Project. This Project aims to assist
school canteens to provide healthy food choices and consequently,
promote good health through healthy eating to reduce levels of obesity
and chronic diseases later in life. Flinders Partners has been contracted by
the Department to undertake this Project which will see the development
of a nationally consistent approach to making healthy food available in
school canteens.
The Project consists of three components: a national food categorisation
system for school canteens; training materials for canteen staff; and an
evaluation framework.