Page 2136 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 6 August 2014
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We would like the ACT to build on the success of our well-established and successful school gardens program and to support young people to learn about more sustainable patterns of living and build capacities for thinking, valuing and acting to create a more sustainable future, of which food and food choices are a critical part.
Research studies indicate that children who eat breakfast perform better in school. Unfortunately, it is estimated that approximately 25 per cent of children regularly miss breakfast. Around the country there are hundreds of breakfast clubs which provide healthy food to children who may need a better start to the day. It probably seems a fairly basic thing for most of us, but having a child arrive at school without breakfast is well documented as a factor in lowering their performance, their ability to concentrate and like measures.
Dental health is another area which the Greens believe does not currently get enough attention; yet we know that this has a huge effect on people’s overall long-term health and eating habits. It is disturbing to hear of people who simply avoid raw fruit and vegetables because their teeth cannot cope with them. Too many Australians go without dental treatment because they find it too expensive; this is why the Australian Greens brought Denticare onto the national agenda. The Greens in the ACT want to complement that work by boosting services at a local level. For adults who are eligible for the ACT’s public dental service, only 12 per cent access it, and they face an average wait of 12 months. Health groups are advocating for the better use of dental hygienists as a way of providing improved preventive dental services. The Greens will continue to support this advocacy.
Members may remember that in 2011 my former colleague Amanda Bresnan initiated laws to improve nutrition information that is provided by fast food outlets to customers. You can now see this operating successfully on the menus of many food outlets around Canberra. We now have much more comprehensive information about what some of the meals up on the boards actually do in terms of daily nutritional intake, for a range of key food indicators.
There are in the parliamentary agreement a number of items which directly address healthy diets and lifestyles. I have touched on it already, but one is looking into banning junk food advertising. We know how susceptible children are to targeted advertising. More than 75 per cent of Australians already support a ban on junk food advertising on children’s television. There is no doubt that this is an incredibly influential way that young people’s dietary habits are shaped and there is no doubt that it is contributing to the increasing levels of childhood obesity that we see.
The Greens are also, through the parliamentary agreement, encouraging people to get active—whether it is recreationally or by commuting—by improving walking and cycling infrastructure such as paths, bike lanes, pedestrian crossings and simple things like lighting and signage, which make it much better and much easier for people to get around using the various walking and cycling opportunities that are out there.
As I touched on before, we are keen to see the enhancement and growth of community garden projects across Canberra. That is touched on in the parliamentary agreement.
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