Food taxes and ad bans may not impact obesity

A new Productivity Commission report found no evidence to justify introducing taxes on high fat, sugar and salt (HFFS) foods or advertising bans to address childhood obesity levels in Australia, according to the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC).

The report Childhood Obesity: An Economic Perspective found the underlying causes of childhood obesity - resulting from an imbalance between energy consumed and expanded - were “complex and difficult to disentangle”.

It also highlighted that the prevalence of childhood obesity had “levelled off since the mid 1990s” but was considered too high.

AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said the report stated there is a “lack of evidence” that government-intervention measures - such as introducing taxes and advertising bans which some public health groups have been demanding - would impact on obesity levels.

“This report shows that there’s only very limited evidence for these intervention measures and that Australia needs to consider a wide range of issues and partnerships to address the complex childhood obesity issue,” Carnell said.

It is stated in the report that, “Several studies indicate consumers have limited responsiveness to food taxes. Taxing particular foods can affect the consumption of other foods, and have unpredictable health effects.”

“There’s no evidence from a number of states in the US which have put taxes on soft drinks that obesity levels have fallen,” Carnell said.

Another key finding related to advertising of HFFS foods claimed, “Evidence suggests that the link between television viewing and childhood obesity is small in magnitude - it’s difficult to discern a relationship between advertising and body weight.”

Carnell supported the report’s conclusion that “the complex nature of the [obesity] problem suggests that policies need to be carefully designed, to maximise cost effectiveness, and trialled, with a focus on evidence.”

Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing sector has already made strong inroads in preventative health measures with a number of successful industry-based measures including front-of-pack food labelling, and the reduction of salt, saturated fats and transfats in processed foods,” Carnell said.