Category: Food and Nutrition
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Who gets a say in public health nutrition? Five perspectives from the field
Christina Zorbas, Andrew Brown, Phoebe Nagorcka-Smith, Veronica Nunez, Dheepa Jeyapalan Introduction: A core tenet of public health nutrition is identifying and enacting actions to equitably improve population nutrition. We should act in a manner that proportionately addresses structural drivers of social and/or economic disadvantage. The increased focus on better including…
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Australia’s new government must tackle food insecurity
Dr Maureen Murphy and Dr Rachel Carey University of Melbourne As food prices in Australia continue to rise and the cost-of-living crisis bites, tackling food insecurity should be high on the ‘to do’ list of the country’s newly elected Labor government. Our new research, developed in collaboration with stakeholders from…
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Advocating for protection against unethical marketing of unhealthy products
PHAA Intern Allyson Todd, University of Sydney The unethical marketing of unhealthy products is an increasing concern within the digital age, from both a public health lens, and a human and child rights perspective. The Australian Government’s National Preventative Health Strategy 2021-2030 recognised the digital and commercial influence of promoting…
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Ultra-processed foods are trashing our health – and the planet
Kim Anastasiou, Deakin University; Mark Lawrence, Deakin University; Michalis Hadjikakou, Deakin University, and Phillip Baker, Deakin University Our world is facing a huge challenge: we need to create enough high-quality, diverse and nutritious food to feed a growing population – and do so within the boundaries of our planet. This…
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Sick governance risks all our health
Malcolm Baalman – PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser We saw a disappointing Budget this week, with virtually no new investment in population-level prevention of diseases. What governments decide to do – or not do – makes a huge difference to the population’s health. Governments make laws about environmental health,…
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Advocating for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems in Australia – taking a holistic approach
Kate Sievert, Cherie Russell, and Sarah Dickie – Healthy Food Systems Australia Australia’s dominant food system provides access to a wide range of safe foods in a relatively secure manner. However, it is also a major contributor to chronic disease risk and environmental degradation. Our food supply encourages the…
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Fighting for food regulation reform and social mobilisation for wicked problems: Food Futures Conference 2022
PHAA Featuring international food and nutrition experts, and prominent Australian public figures, the final day of the Food Futures Conference 2022 was action-packed. Panel Session – The future of food regulation in Australia and New Zealand Emeritus Prof Murray Skeaff of @otago is speaking on food regulation system modernisation. #FoodFutures2022…
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Early Career Researchers showcase the future of food research
Courtney Thompson, Kevin Mao, Shayal Prasad, Sarah Gandolfo, Alexandra Procter – Students and Young Professionals in Public Health (SYPPH) committee. Cherie Russell – Food and Nutrition Special Interest Group Executive. Some of the country’s brightest young minds gave views of the future of food and nutrition research and advocacy in…
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“Uncomfortable, important and compelling”: Food Sovereignty presentations at Food Futures 2022
Christina Pollard, Melanie Parker, and Food Futures Conference Advisory Committee Over 170 delegates attended the Food Futures Conference 2022, held Wednesday 16 to Thursday 17 March. Expert speakers presented on a range of topics, on the Conference theme of transforming food systems for the planetary and public good. The third…
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Corporate power, dietary guidelines and ultra-processed food on the menu at Food Futures 2022
Christina Pollard, Melanie Parker, and Food Futures Conference Advisory Committee Over 170 delegates attended the Food Futures Conference 2022, held Wednesday 16 to Thursday 17 March. Expert speakers presented on a range of topics, within the theme of transforming food systems for the planetary and public good. We’d like to…
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ANZJPH study highlights festive season risk hazards, or ‘Chrishaps’
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA By now, most are ‘back at work’ (physically or remotely) and we can look back at how the majority of us have ‘survived’ another period of Christmas craziness. That theme of ‘surviving Christmas’ is the subject of a new article in the Australian and New Zealand…
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How do we improve the nutrition of older Australians?
Kate Thiele – Meals on Wheels Australia & Melanie Parker – PHAA Introduction As people move through life, nutrition requirements change. This is pertinent for older Australians (70 years +), where poor nutrition can have a detrimental effect on health and wellbeing, particularly through malnutrition and other associated health problems. Lack…
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Public health measures can help balance the Budget
Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin – PHAA CEO This post is the second in our series of articles exploring the PHAA’s 2022-23 pre-Budget submission, The Public Health Crisis Budget. Read the first post here. Government revenue, primarily gathered through taxes, is and always has been, a fundamentally political issue. Governments need…
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Expert to discuss framework for making food systems sustainable and healthy at PHAA conference
Introduction by Jeremy Lasek – PHAA At the PHAA’s upcoming Food Futures Conference, (16-17 March) a leading Australian expert, Professor Mark Lawrence, from Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), will explore The Ecological Nutrition Conceptual Framework for promoting healthy and sustainable diets. Institute for Physical Health and…
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It’s time to move beyond implementation to make healthy food retail changes successful and sustainable at scale
Dr Adyya Gupta and Professor Anna Peeters It is well established that unhealthy diet is a leading but preventable risk factor for several non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including overweight and obesity, type-2 diabetes, dental decay, cardiovascular disease and multiple cancers. According to Australia’s National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (2011-12), Australians…
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“It is not just about feeding people, it’s about feeding people well,” UK expert to tell 2022 Food Futures Conference
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA With many of us preparing to shed those unwanted festive season kilos, what better time than now to plug our upcoming PHAA Food Futures Conference, which is only two months away. The online conference will be held over two days (Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 March)…
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Encouraging switching away from sugary drinks and towards water – using warning labels and Health Stars
Professor Caroline Miller, Dr Jo Dono and Dr Kerry Ettridge (SAHMRI and The University of Adelaide) Australia has one of the highest rates of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in the world. It is now well known that there are long term health impacts of consuming SSBs, including weight gain, Type…
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2022 Food Futures Conference: Transforming food systems for planetary and public good
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Background According to the United Nations, “Our population trajectory means that from now to 2030, the world will need to build the equivalent of a city of one million people in developing countries, every five days.” The Food and Agriculture: the future of sustainability executive summary…
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Levies on unhealthy products reduce disease and heal the budget deficit
Terry Slevin – PHAA CEO As a result of the pandemic that has changed our lives, some are suggesting that an undeniable response from government will be greater investment in public health. Those closer to decision makers within governments are suggesting the costs incurred due to the pandemic will result…
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PHAA and SBS-TV recognise the work of ‘Too Deadly for Diabetes’ creator, Ray Kelly
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA One of the great strengths of the PHAA’s annual awards is to uncover great stories of public health best practice at work and making a big difference to people’s lives. Ray Kelly was Highly Commended in the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Public Health Award for…
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Drugs, advocacy, and understanding public health’s ‘new frontier’: it’s conference week
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA The Australian Public Health Conference 2021 starts this Thurday 23 September, and features a stellar line-up of presenters. One final reminder, this year’s conference is virtual only, so if you haven’t cancelled your travel plans and accommodation in the national capital, please make that a…
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The future of food regulation in Australia
Terry Slevin CEO – Public Health Association of Australia and Robert Hunt CEO – Dietitians Australia Australia has built a reputation as a producer of high quality safe and healthy food. Part of this reputation is based on high standards. Standards seeking to make our food both safe and…
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Australia scores a two in the WHO Sodium Score Card
Mary-Anne Land and Terry Slevin – PHAA This week it is national stroke week in Australia. There is unequivocal evidence that excess sodium intake leads to raised blood pressure and that raised blood pressure results in increased risks of cardiovascular diseases, including stroke. The totality of the evidence also…
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Junk food companies have no place on the Olympic sponsorship podium
Kathryn Backholer, Christina Zorbas and Florentine Martino The Tokyo Olympics is like no other before it. In the middle of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Olympic stadiums are largely empty. But with half of Australia currently under ‘stay-at-home’ orders, tuning into the Olympics may become the Nation’s biggest-ever broadcasting…
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Swap shapes for rice crackers, chips for popcorn… parents can improve their kids’ diet with these healthier lunchbox options
Matthew Mclaughlin, University of Newcastle; Alison Brown, University of Newcastle; Jannah Jones, University of Newcastle; Luke Wolfenden, University of Newcastle, and Rachel Sutherland, University of Newcastle Four in five primary school students eat a packed lunch every day, costing parents around A$20 a week. That’s almost 10 million lunchboxes across…