The Australian government launched its National Nutrition Week yesterday, urging parents to buy healthier food for their children and help prevent the numbers of obese, 3.3 million in Australia, from climbing.
Parliamentary Secretary for Health Trish Worth said chronic diseases now contribute to 42 per cent of the burden of disease in Australia. More than 3 million Australians are obese and a further 5.6 million are overweight.
Nutrition Australia is encouraging parents to avoid the 'upsized' portions of fast food, restrict soft drinks and confectionery items, and look out for healthy foods that 'help you to feel full'. They are also urging people to read food labels on packaged foods, after a recent survey the nation's food agency found few consumers properly understand nutritional information.
"We need to seriously think about our eating patterns activity levels," Worth said.
She added that the Australian government is working closely with regional government through the National Obesity Taskforce to develop a national approach to address the problem of obesity in the Australian population.
"However, governments can only do so much, as at some stage we all have to take responsibility for healthy eating both for ourselves and for our families," she said.
Nutrition Week is a national campaign conducted by Nutrition Australia every year to coincide with World Food Day on 16 October. The US and UK have also recognised the severe rise in obesity in recent years, which threatens to put a significant strain on healthcare resources. However many critics believe governments are still failing to do enough to stem the crisis.