Unhealthy food and drink advertising restricted near schools

February 25, 2020

The outdoor advertising industry has launched a self regulatory campaign to restrict the advertising of discretionary food and drink products on out-of-home signs within a 150 metre sightline of a school, aiming to meet community expectations and support government efforts to tackle overweight and obesity in Australia (140 metres is considered the limit to readability).

Peak industry body Outdoor Media Association (OMA) Chief Executive Charmaine Moldrich notes "almost one in four children is overweight or obese and this complex problem requires a comprehensive set of policies and programs to help Australians lead healthier lives.

"As experts in advertising, we want to use the power of out of home (OOH) to make a real difference.

“The Health and Wellbeing Policy reflects the fact that the out of home industry has listened to the community and government and pro-actively introduced a new voluntary self-regulating code to address what has become a critical issue in Australian society.”

The OMA consulted with the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC), the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), the Cancer Council, Diabetes Australia and the Heart Foundation on the new policy.

AANA Chief Executive, John Broome added “advocating high ethical and professional standards across Australia’s marketing community is at the centre of the AANA’s work and we support the Outdoor industry’s approach to discretionary food and drink advertising.”

The policy includes:

Discretionary food and drink product advertising to be restricted from areas within 150 metres of primary or secondary schools.
Food and drink advertising to be based on Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Health Star Rating system.
$3 million of donated advertising space across Australia every year to feature campaigns supporting healthy diet and lifestyle choices.
Creative support from the OOH industry to create campaigns to reach the targeted audience.
Compliance monitoring of the national restrictions with annual reports provided to state and federal governments.
Annual meetings to be held with key industry stakeholders and health promotion experts to assess the restrictions and the educational programs.

The new policy will come into effect on 1st July 2020.

18th February 2020 - ExerciseNZ questions fast food and sugary drinks sponsorship of sporting teams

10th November 2019 - Museums Victoria to phase out unhealthy drink options

25th June 2019 - Reviews shows sugary drink taxes reduce consumption

20th June 2019 - Research recommends aquatic activity for overweight children

21st April 2019 - Queensland Government to end junk food advertising in bid to address rising obesity

25th March 2018 - Otago researchers reveal childhood predictors of becoming overweight or obese

30th January 2018 - 80% of Mackay adults are overweight or obese

12th April 2017 - Junk food constitutes majority of purchases from swimming pool kiosks

20th February 2017 - Strength training carries weight for obese teens

26th September 2016 - New research confirms ongoing challenges in alcohol consumption and overweight children

29th July 2016 - Sugary drinks dropped from Auckland Council leisure centres

13th July 2016 - Children need protection from unhealthy food and drink sports sponsorship

14th April 2016 - YMCA Australia backs calls for taxes on sugary drinks

29th September 2015 - Heart Foundation highlights massive danger for ‘overweight’ Darwin

27th August 2014 - Study shows drinks children associate with sport are largely unhealthy

20th February 2014 - An inconvenient truth for overweight Australians

2nd February 2014 - Health groups urge Australian Government to curb the junk food industry

15th February 2011 - Sporting Stars encourage junk food consumption

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