Discussion

How Can We Make It Easier For Australians To Eat Better.

Changing a few eating habits can bring about a big difference in the diet and prevent the onset of some of the severe chronic diseases like that of cancer, heart disease etc. Some simple changes in the everyday food habit at times make us achieve a much more healthier lifestyle without at all losing the things that we like eating.

In the present report, we will review a report that has been developed by the Citizen’s Jury on Obesity. We will go through the recommendations that are suggested by them and will decide here the best recommendations that will have the greatest impact regarding helping the Australians to eat better.

The definition of healthy food by the Citizen’s Jury on Obesity refers to the food that meets Australia’s Healthy Eating Guidelines. A balanced diet involves eating a wide variety of food that are mostly healthy in a controlled and evaluated manner. However, being healthy just does not mean the absence of obesity but it is a much wider concept (Barosh, et al. 2014). When we consider a healthy diet, then that more significantly contribute to a higher quality of life and well-being of the individuals, attaining a healthy weight, and overall protection from some severe chronic diseases and premature death. In this regard, making the choice regarding what to eat or not to eat is a difficult task and most of us are not sure regarding the right food and the proper quantities in which they must be consumed so as to have a healthy diet.

Mentioned below are few recommendations that are made by the Citizen’s Jury on Obesity that can be implemented by the Australian government for helping the Australians to eat better (Scuffham, et al. 2018).

As per the various studies that are made in Australia highlights the fact that there is a cost difference for availing the healthy food in the urban and the rural areas of Queensland, South Australia, and Northern Territory. Due to the lengthy distances of the rural and remote areas the quality of the fresh food deteriorates by the time they reach the consumers. Added to that the extra cost that is incurred for the transport and storage are directly passed on to the consumers and that makes a difference in both the cost and the quality of the food that are provided to the most economically disadvantaged regions of Australia (Network, 2017).

The Best Recommendations That Will Have Greatest Impact On Helping Australians To Eat Better

Being the low-income group, it becomes difficult for them to have an access over the healthy food stuffs. In that regards we may think of providing the low-income groups with the access to discounted healthy food. When the healthy and fresh food will become cheaper  in the rural and remote areas then the low-income people may think of investing on the healthy food and that will add more to their health (Darmon and Drewnowski, 2015).

Also studies in Australia reveals that the households that have a lower income are found to be at a higher risk of overweight and obesity due to their unhealthy food habits. They choose for the high energy giving and nutrient-poor food. They prefer having food like that of rice, sweets, pasta that are rich sources of energy and cheaper too rather than the fresh vegetables and fruits that cost much more for providing the high nutritional value and energy. This kind of improper dietary plans make them overweight and suffer from obesity in most of the cases (Markow, et al. 2016). But, if we take the initiative to provide the healthy food to the lower income households at a discounted price then they will be able to add some healthy diet to their regular food habit and thus have an access to a healthier lifestyle.

To do so a concession program  may be initiated at the national level that will identify the lower income group people and will make arrangements so that they may have the access to the healthier food at a discounted price. The program must be designed in a manner that it identifies the disadvantaged group and enhance the ease-of-access to discounts on healthy food for them. Doing so, we can help a huge number of families to lead a healthier, and much more productive life and stand against the epidemic of obesity and diminish their healthcare cost too (Burns, et al. 2015). So the policies and strategies for the provision of the healthy food to the low-income group people must be taken into consideration and emphasized on by the Australian government.

Health Star Labelling is the newly introduced method where the food are labelled that in turn helps the consumers in making the smarter choices when it comes for buying packaged food. By the introduction of the health star labelling on each and every packed food products the consumers who are unaware of the healthy food can easily make a comparison regarding the nutritional profile of the food in a simple and understandable manner. With this ease of understanding, they will be able to identify the food that when added to their diet will make their diet much more healthier and balanced one. By the investing on the proper implementation of this strategy, the government of Australia can ensure that the consumers are able to discriminate the food that comes under the similar food category but contain higher amount of those undesirable ingredients that can adversely affect the health of the consumers (Talati, et al. 2016).

Provide low-income access to discounted healthy food

For this matter, the government must ensure that the Health Star labelling for the packed food within the entire nation occurs under the shelter of a single national scheme the target of which remains enhancing the overall health quality of the individuals of Australia. Apart from that the scheme must have the provision of ongoing refinement of the system s that in no manner the system encourages the marketing and sales of the discretionary or unhealthy food. Along with that the Health Star labelling must be based on independent and other evidence-based nutrition guidelines so that it does not have any adverse effect on the health of any specific group of individuals. Along with that the labelling must be done in a manner that it appears on the front of the packed food and is easily visible to the consumers for the purpose of reference before they go for the decision of purchasing any specific packed food (Lawrence, et al. 2018). Also the government must take the specific care that apart from the low star ratings, the discretionary food are marked with health warning symbols displayed on them so that the consumers are aware of the health issues that may occur upon the intake of the unhealthy food.

With this the consumers will be ensured and confident enough that they are making use of a relevant and recognized system for adding some healthy food to their regular diet (Brennan, 2015).

Conclusion

After going through the entire report that has been developed by the  Citizen’s Jury we have considered here the best two possible recommendations that can be implemented  within the nation for the purpose of helping the Australians to eat better. In one hand we are targeting the low income group consumers and making the arrangements that will enable them to have the access on the healthy food by the means of discounting the prices of the healthy food for them. On the other hand, we are considering the overall consumers of the nation and planning for the introduction of the Health Star labelling system that can enable the consumers with an ease of understanding regarding the food items that will make their diet healthier and will lead them to live a much more productive and disease free life.

The proper implementation of the recommendations that are made in this report will enable the Australians promote health and wellbeing and protect and prevent themselves from the risk attached with the diet-related conditions and also from the chances and danger of the other chronic diseases.

Reference List

Barosh, L., Friel, S., Engelhardt, K. and Chan, L., 2014. The cost of a healthy and sustainable diet–who can afford it?. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 38(1), pp.7-12.

Scuffham, P.A., Krinks, R., Chaulkidou, K., Littlejohns, P., Whitty, J.A., Wilson, A., Burton, P. and Kendall, E., 2018. Recommendations from Two Citizens’ Juries on the Surgical Management of Obesity. Obesity surgery, pp.1-8.

Network, C.R., 2017. A countryside for health and wellbeing: the physical and mental health benefits of green exercise. Cancer.

Darmon, N. and Drewnowski, A., 2015. Contribution of food prices and diet cost to socioeconomic disparities in diet quality and health: a systematic review and analysis. Nutrition reviews, 73(10), pp.643-660.

Markow, K., Booth, S., Savio, S. and Coveney, J., 2016. Improving access to community?based food systems: Comparing perspectives of low socioeconomic individuals and food system representatives. Nutrition & dietetics, 73(1), pp.19-27.

Burns, C., Bentley, R., Thornton, L. and Kavanagh, A., 2015. Associations between the purchase of healthy and fast foods and restrictions to food access: a cross-sectional study in Melbourne, Australia. Public health nutrition, 18(1), pp.143-150.

Lawrence, M.A., Dickie, S. and Woods, J.L., 2018. Do Nutrient-Based Front-of-Pack Labelling Schemes Support or Undermine Food-Based Dietary Guideline Recommendations? Lessons from the Australian Health Star Rating System. Nutrients, 10(1), p.32.

Talati, Z., Pettigrew, S., Hughes, C., Dixon, H., Kelly, B., Ball, K. and Miller, C., 2016. The combined effect of front-of-pack nutrition labels and health claims on consumers’ evaluation of food products. Food quality and preference, 53, pp.57-65.

Brennan, M., 2015. Is the Health Star Rating System a Thin Response to a Fat Problem: An Examination of the Constitutionality of a Mandatory Front Package Labelling System. U. Notre Dame Austl. L. Rev., 17, p.86.