CANBERRA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A coalition of leading Australian health experts has called for a 20 percent tax on sugary drinks to combat obesity.
The group, made up of 34 high-profile health organizations including the Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) and Cancer Council, on Tuesday delivered the "Tipping the Scales" action plan to the federal government calling for obesity prevention to become a national priority.
The plan includes a 20 percent tax on beverages containing added sugar and an embargo on unhealthy food advertising on television during prime time when most children are watching.
Jane Martin, executive manager of the OPC, said that widespread obesity was having dire effects on Australia's economic and physical wellbeing.
"63 percent of Australian adults and 27 percent of our children are overweight or obese," Martin said in a media release on Tuesday.
"Our kids are bombarded with advertising for junk food, high-sugar drinks are cheaper than water, and sugar and saturated fat are hiding in so-called 'healthy' foods. Making a healthy choice has never been more difficult."
"The annual cost of overweight and obesity in Australia in 2011-2012 was estimated to be 6.85 (billion U.S. dollars) in direct and indirect costs. But Australia still has no strategy to tackle our obesity problem. It just doesn't make sense."
In addition to key recommendations such as the tax and advertising embargo, the coalition also called for additional funding for public education campaigns and mandatory health ratings on all food by 2019.
Anna Peeters, a professor of public health at Deakin University, said if current trends continued, 1.75 million Australians aged 20 and over would die as a result of obesity between 2011 and 2050.
"Obesity poses such an immense threat to Australia's physical and economic health that it needs its own, standalone prevention strategy if progress is to be made," Peeters said.
