Protecting our children from obesity: challenges and opportunities

The reluctance of Australian policy makers to take evidence-based action on childhood obesity is unacceptable

Despite the threat of shorter lifespan for the first time in generations, Australian policy makers remain reluctant to protect our children from increasing levels of obesity. Yet the reasons for this crisis and the need to act, especially on the aggressive marketing of energy-dense food and drink, are both well understood. The World Health Organization has provided an action plan to translate evidence into action,1 and a narrative review in this issue of the MJA sets out clearly the scale and nature of the problem and what can be done to address it.2