Food for Health Alliance

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Food for Health Alliance

Australia's leading policy & advocacy voice working to improve diets & prevent overweight & obesity.

Food for Health Alliance (formerly known as the Obesity Policy Coalition) is a leading policy and advocacy voice working to improve diets and prevent overweight and obesity in Australia, particularly for children. We advocate to governments for laws and policies to improve our food environment – the way our food is made, labelled, sold and advertised. By changing our food environment, we can help to create a world that supports health and wellbeing, making it easier for all Australians to live well. Our key priority areas are protecting children from unhealthy food marketing, improving food labelling, improving foods for babies and toddlers, and influencing changes to how foods are priced and taxed. We also focus on the frameworks that influence these key issues, including national strategies, international guidance, and the regulation of the food system. Our work is informed by current evidence, and we work with researchers, health professionals and other policy experts to build, inform and communicate the evidence on diets, obesity prevention, trends, and impacts. Our partners are Cancer Council Victoria, VicHealth and the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition at Deakin University.

08/04/2026

Using beloved children's characters like Bluey or Paw Patrol is another sneaky tactic used by the food industry to make unhealthy products more appealing to our children.

And it's effective. Research has shown that including cartoon characters on product packaging influences young children's preferences, making them want these products more.

While this marketing boosts corporate profits, it undermines our children's nutrition and their future health.

We need government to set higher standards to stop the processed food industry from using these marketing tactics.

Check out our website to find out more - link in comments.

25/03/2026

Research has shown that exposure to food marketing effects young children's preference, requests and consumption of unhealthy foods.

Older children (who may make their own purchasing decisions) are also influenced by unhealthy food marketing through positive brand attitudes, and increased purchase and consumption of unhealthy foods.

Head to the Obesity Evidence Hub to find out more about the impact of unhealthy food marketing on children.

https://www.obesityevidencehub.org.au/collections/prevention/the-impact-of-food-marketing-on-children

20/03/2026

Australian families have a right to expect that foods for babies and toddlers are marketed responsibly. But often there is a large gap between the marketing promises and the reality of these products.

The marketing you see on food packaging is a sophisticated tool that is highly persuasive; crafted in ways to appeal to families' desires to provide healthy and nutritious food for their children.

Food companies use marketing that gives their products a “health halo” by including images of fresh fruit and veggies, or claims like 'made with real fruit' to make them sound healthier and more nutritious than they really are.

Right now, there aren't laws in place to stop companies from these misleading marketing tactics. But with your help we can change this.

Comment 'take action' below and we'll send you a link to our petition calling for governments to introduce comprehensive legislation on baby and toddler foods, so that Aussie children have the best start in life.

04/03/2026

Everyday we're bombarded with ads for harmful products from the unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling industries.

It’s time for the Federal Government to shield our community from this marketing.

We need a law that sets clear rules about how gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food companies can advertise.

We know the community wants to see this change. The government has an important opportunity now
to set the stage for a better, healthier future.

Food for Health Alliance are proud to be a partner of the Give Us An Ad Break campaign, launched today.

Together we can make a future where people are free to go about their lives without being targeted with harmful product marketing.

Find out more and show your support: https://giveusanadbreak.org.au/

24/02/2026

Looking for evidence on obesity trends, impacts, prevention, environmental influences & treatment in Australia? Check out the Obesity Evidence Hub: https://www.obesityevidencehub.org.au/

16/02/2026

On Friday Food Ministers agreed to take the next steps towards making Health Star Ratings Mandatory across all packaged foods.

Health Star Ratings translate complicated nutrition information into a simple guide that makes it easier to understand how products stack up for health.

Making the system mandatory will make it easier for Australians to buy healthier options and push food companies to improve the nutrition of their products.

Thank you to Ministers for supporting this important work.

Rebecca White Mary-Anne Thomas MP Chris Picton MP

06/02/2026

Parents and carers want to give their children the best foods possible. Most people believe that what’s in baby and toddler foods and how they’re marketed is tightly regulated by government. But right now, this isn’t the case.

Instead, industry can largely make their own rules about what goes in these products and how they are marketed.

Think this should change? Us too. Add your name to the petition to support our advocacy for comprehensive regulation on the marketing and ingredients of baby and toddler foods.
https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/petition

29/01/2026

Sugary drinks are the top contributor to sugar consumption in the average Australian’s diet. A single can of drink can contain 10 teaspoons of sugar – nearly as much as the World Health Organisation’s recommended daily limit.

Want to find out more about sugary drinks and health? Head to the Obesity Evidence Hub: https://www.obesityevidencehub.org.au/

08/01/2026

Great news from the UK! Earlier this week their ban on advertising unhealthy foods to children came into effect. The ban prohibits unhealthy food marketing on television between 5:30am and 9pm, and paid advertising online.

We're urging the Australian Government to follow suite and take swift action to protect children from unhealthy food and drink advertising.

Just like in the UK, Australian children deserve to be able to watch their favourite TV shows and go online to study, play games or socialise without being targeted by the processed food industry’s sophisticated marketing tactics.

Want to help? Join the Brands off our Kids campaign!
https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/campaigns/brands-off-our-kids

03/01/2026

Kids should be free to enjoy their favourite shows without being bombarded with ads for unhealthy food and drinks.

But right now the processed food industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year targeting Australian children with marketing in every aspect of their lives, surrounding them like wallpaper.

Join the Brands off our Kids! campaign to help us change this.

https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/campaigns/brands-off-our-kids

23/12/2025

Parents want to do the right thing for their children. But packaged baby and toddler food companies are misleading caregivers, leading them to believe these foods are healthy when many are not.

New research found that less than 20% of baby and toddler snack foods sold in Australian supermarkets meet international recommendations for nutrition.

Parents expect that what goes into these foods and how they're marketed is tightly regulated, but right now that isn't the case.

Together we can change this. Add your name to our petition calling for comprehensive government regulation on baby and toddler foods.

https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/campaigns/kids-are-sweet-enough/petition

09/12/2025

New research has revealed that the majority of commercial snack foods for babies and toddlers in Australian supermarkets are ultra-processed, overly sweet, and fail to meet nutrition standards.

The first 1000 days of a child's life is crucial to their development and long-term health. Yet, snack foods - which make up almost a third of packaged baby and toddler foods - were overwhelmingly ultra-processed (63%), sweet (77%) and less than 20% of them met all international recommendations for nutrition.

This research confirms that more needs to be done to regulate the booming baby and toddler snack food industry.

Australia’s baby and toddler snack food market is a multi-million-dollar industry, government intervention is needed to ensure profits don’t come at the expense of children’s health.

FHA are calling for for comprehensive regulations to the composition and marketing of baby and toddler foods, including:

1. No snacks on the market for babies. These are not recommended under infant feeding guidelines.

2. Snacks for toddlers should align with global health recommendations and not be marketed as part of everyday diets.

Read our media release to find out more: https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/media-news/media-release/2025/ultra-processed-baby-and-toddler-snack-foods-lead-youngest-aussies-to-unhealthy-future.html

Address

Level 8, 200 Victoria Parade
Melbourne, VIC
3002

Website

https://foodforhealthalliance.org.au/

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