Statement: AANA Food & Beverages Advertising Code Review

A collective of public health and consumer advocates make the following statement in response to this review.

In Australia, almost one quarter of children aged 5-17 years are overweight or obese. We do not agree with the use of an industry self-regulated code on such an important public health issue. Consequently, we do not believe any current or previous AANA Review of Food and Beverage Advertising, or any resultant changes to the Code, will provide an adequate response to reducing children’s exposure to unhealthy food and drink advertising. We affirm our position that any action to address the persistently high levels of marketing of unhealthy products to children in Australia must come in the form of legislation supported by the Government.