Advertising junk food to children would be banned, sugar-sweetened drinks taxed and unhealthy vending machines removed from all medical facilities under an all-out assault on poor nutrition being pushed by the Australian Medical Association.
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In a new position statement released this year, the powerful doctors' group says a suite of measures needs to be adopted by governments and businesses in 2018 to reduce the large-scale damage being wrought by over consumption of sugar.
"Improving the nutrition and eating habits of Australians must become a priority for all levels of government," AMA president Michael Gannon said.
Dr Gannon warned eating habits are formed early on and said the continued, targeted marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks to children had alarmed doctors.
"Consumption of sugar is not a problem in and of itself but there is no doubt it is a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic that we are facing," he said.
The AMA’s over 20 recommendations include calls for businesses to provide water as the default drink, better nutrition education programs, better food labelling, more affordable healthy options for low-income earners, and improved dietary and clinical guidelines.
"Vending machines containing sugary drinks and other unhealthy food items should be removed from all health care settings or be replaced with vending machines offering only healthy food and beverage choices," the position statement says.
It also says a tax on sweetened drinks should be introduced as a "matter of priority". Soft drinks are particularly high in sugar.
The call for such a tax pits the AMA against the Australian Beverages Council, the industry's lobby group, which last year said it was "consuming vast amounts of resources" in its fight against the push.
Responding to concerns about governments intervening in the market, Dr Gannon said there would always be individual responsibility involved in dieting – as well as parents' responsibility for children and institutions' responsibility for people under their care – but said the status quo made people vulnerable.
"The industry has shown itself to be incapable of self-regulating," he said, arguing businesses are exploiting loopholes to target children and protect sales.
Dr Gannon said while sugar is not the same as tobacco because there is a safe dose, the industry had used similar "tactics of denial" in the face of research.
Poor diet is a factor in one in five deaths globally and diet is the second highest risk factor, after smoking, for early death, according to research published last year.
Last year, a coalition of 34 health organisations called for an "urgent" 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks and a ban on prime time unhealthy food advertising.
A 2016 study by the Obesity Policy Coalition and the University of Queensland's School of Public Health suggested a 20 per cent levy could save 1600 lives, dramatically cut cases of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and raise $400 million a year.
Britain, Ireland, Belgium, France, Fiji, Mexico, South Africa, various states of the United States and other countries have instituted the tax on sugary drinks in recent years.
But the Turnbull government has said it won’t support a tax on sugary drinks, insisting it is taking the required action to tackle the challenge of obesity.
"We do not support a new tax on sugar to address this issue," a spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt told AAP. "Unlike the Labor party, we don't believe increasing the family grocery bill at the supermarket is the answer to this challenge."
He noted the government had acted by backing labelling laws for ingredients and nutritional information and supported voluntary measures to restrict food marketing to children.
Dr Gannon said the AMA would "continue to make the case that the economic benefits of a healthy population" are more important than the fears of damaging Australia's sugarcane industry. Report by Sydney Morning Herald.
