Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is quite a landmark report. I think it is a report that has only taken the format it has because of the enormous contribution by the secretariat. I would like to put on record my thanks to the secretariat for the work that they have done in relation to this report. They have been very dedicated in following up on the issues that we as a committee have raised and also been absolutely committed to the task of putting together the report that I believe is an excellent report.

Obesity is a problem that is confronting our society and most developed societies throughout the world. In some ways the more affluent a society is the greater the number of people who suffer from obesity. If you live in a developing country you are much less likely to be obese than if you live in Australia, the United States or the UK. It is interesting to note that when we were receiving evidence in the committee there were a number of people who came along and gave evidence who had suffered from a weight problem for a very long time. They had tried numerous approaches to lose weight, to get their body mass index into the normal range, and had failed on numerous occasions. I think the reasons for this are extremely complex. I also believe that it is important that much more research is done in this area.

I do not think there is any person not aware of the fact that they can address their weight issue by eating less and exercising more. I think everybody is aware of that. Yet, even with the knowledge and the ability to make that change, things have not changed. To me this is a very complex societal issue. It takes in enormous psychosocial issues. It is also interesting to put on the record at the commencement of my contribution to this debate the fact that there are socioeconomic factors involved with obesity and being overweight. I think the psychosocial factors have been underestimated in relation to obesity. I think that these factors need to be addressed in any lasting solution to this problem.

Childhood obesity starts basically from the time of birth. Someone with fewer resources is less likely to breastfeed their baby. It is a known fact—and this is covered by every bit of research that has been taken—that breastfeeding provides the ground for a child’s nutritional lifestyle and those who are breastfed do much better in the fight against obesity. The propensity for a child to develop obesity can start basically from the time they are born.

The media hype around the report related to bariatric surgery. That was just one recommendation in the report. A second recommendation that related to that was that a national register of bariatric surgery be established. I think the two need to be put together. It is important that bariatric surgery is available to people who do not have the same financial ability to access it as those who are accessing it at the moment. It is also very important that a register be developed because from the register the effectiveness of the surgery can be observed.

Bariatric surgery on its own is not the answer. Once again I am touching on the psychosocial factors that I mentioned at the commencement of my contribution to this debate. A person needs to have support all the way through the process. They need to have access to a multidisciplinary team to ensure they get the backup and the support that will ensure that they succeed.

Probably the most important thing in addressing obesity is that we have a whole-of-government approach to the issue—an approach that goes across each and every level of government and that encompasses the community. The only way we can successfully deal with this epidemic that is increasing our health costs and so many other costs within our community is for everybody to work together. To some extent this has taken place already. The national Preventative Health Taskforce has been looking at obesity. The government has identified three key areas in preventative health that it wants to address—tobacco, alcohol and obesity.

It is so important that we all work together on this. We need better research. We need research that gets to the core of why obesity is so prevalent in our society. We need to make sure that programs such as the Active After-school Communities program are retained, but extended. I touched on obesity from the point of view of breastfeeding and the importance of that baseline, but the committee was able to visit a number of excellent programs that targeted children. If a child develops the right exercise, eating patterns—like the Stephanie Alexander school garden program and other programs that target young people—and the right approach to healthy eating and healthy lifestyle then as they grow older the problem will dissipate.

The committee believes very strongly that general practitioners play a very important role in the area of counselling and referral for their patients who are suffering from obesity. It was felt that the government needs to include them very much in any sort of consultation and planning to address this important issue. There were some standout issues, issues that we were approached on by a number of people who came and gave evidence to the committee—and there were different perspectives on each of these. There was labelling, and we were lobbied very strongly to put in place a traffic light system. It was also proposed that food be labelled with the daily intake system. The committee believed that it was important that the Food Standards Australia New Zealand food labelling review all the issues relating to guidelines and that we have a uniform guideline placed on food so that people can make an informed choice. Labelling is a big issue. I do not know about other members, but whenever I go shopping I spend a lot of time looking at those labels and trying to find out what food is going to be the best.

Advertising was another issue we received quite a bit of information on. I thought the information there was most interesting. We had people from the advertising industry come along and say that advertising does not in any way affect children’s behaviour or desire to eat fast foods or high-fat foods. They argued that there were studies that supported advertising not encouraging people to go down that track. We had other health professionals saying that advertising was an issue that did impact on the choices that children made. The committee came up with a recommendation that we have got this conflicting information and we feel that it needs to be investigated. It needs to be investigated whether the billions of dollars that advertisers spend on targeting children to purchase various foods is worthwhile or whether there should be some limitation placed on advertising directed at children.

The whole industry that has developed around weight loss needs some regulation. I believe that there are so many claims being made by different people that it needs to be standardised and looked at so that you know that the information being presented is correct, and the committee made some recommendations about that. Recommendation 17 urged that we review the adequacy of the regulations governing weight loss products and programs. I think that is very important because so many people see an advertisement and then become involved in a particular program, or buy a particular product, but quite often there is no research to back up that advertisement. I think that really needs to be looked at.

The other issue I would like to spend a little time on concerns planning. Planning is an area in which local government plays an important role. Planning the way we build our towns and our cities is extremely important. Urban design over the years has quite often led to an environment that works against a person being able to undertake physical activity. I think that all levels of government are much more aware now that we need to be mindful of creating a built environment that encourages people to exercise. I think that guidelines in relation to creating a built environment that is conducive to exercise are very important. Local government should be quite mindful of that need when they are putting together their plans for sporting facilities and bike tracks and the access to those facilities.

This is an outstanding report. I think this is an exceptionally important issue for our society. If we do not act to end obesity now, the next generation of Australians will be dying earlier and will be sicker than the current generation. I recommend the report to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Craig Thomson) adjourned.

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