Removing Junk Food from Hospitals Has Merit
The Tasmanian Greens today said the call to review of food prepared and sold in the state’s hospitals, including vending machines, has merit and should be undertaken.
Greens Health spokesperson Paul O’Halloran MP said that Tasmania’s disturbing obesity rates warranted the investigation of practices elsewhere, such as South Australia which has moved on a similar proposal.
“Tasmania cannot afford to rely solely on current practice and policy to tackle our disturbingly high obesity rates,” Mr O’Halloran said.
“The latest State of Public Health report revealed the alarming fact that over a period of five years, the combined obesity and overweight rate in Tasmanian children aged five to 17 years increased by over 10 per cent, from 18.6% to 28.8%.”
“This shocking rate for Tasmanian child obesity was only exceeded by the Northern Territory.”
“All current efforts to tackle this problem are clearly not enough.”
“The current Parliamentary Committee Inquiry into Preventative Health, which the Greens initiated, should examine the effectiveness of the South Australian scheme, as we need to do everything possible to turn these unacceptable rates around.
Reference: State of Public Health Report 2013; pg 13.
Greens Health spokesperson Paul O’Halloran
