What is the latest information on advertising food high in calories and fat that is aimed at children?
The Hon. JOHN HATZISTERGOS: I thank the honourable member for his very important question. In Australia the number of overweight children increased from 10 per cent in 1985 to 16 per cent in 1995, and New South Wales research shows that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children was 20 per cent in 1997 and is rising. Last month I released preliminary results from groundbreaking research, the SPANS Biomarker substudy of 500 Year 10 students carried out by the Centre of Obesity at the University of Sydney, which highlighted that a number of risk factors for chronic disease associated with obesity are likely to be present in a high proportion of the adolescent population in New South Wales. These include the precursors to heart disease and diabetes. At the conclusion of the Childhood Obesity Summit of 2002, pioneered by the New South Wales Government, there was a call for a government-led, independent review of the regulatory frameworks governing food advertising to children. A
