behaviour change

OAC’s goal is to improve the diet and overall health of New Zealand children through a marked reduction in the commercial promotion of foods and beverages to children under 14. The vital first step is to extend the statutory regulations to prohibit all television food and beverage advertising during programmes where children make up a significant proportion of the viewing audience. This does not preclude the promotion of healthy eating messages to children through non-commercial social marketing. Executive Summary Most New Zealand children have good health however this is rapidly changing. The incidences of childhood obesity tripled between 1989 and 2001, with the latest figures showing one in three are now overweight or obese. These children are exposed to a lifetime of negative social, economic and health outcomes such as diabetes, discrimination, low workplace productivity and fewer years of life. These outcomes are all preventable.