12 Sept 2006 - Where do you fit on the Foodie Pyramid?

Last week I was lucky enough to join around 2000 scientists, researchers, educators and other health professionals in my home town Sydney, for the 10th International Congress on Obesity.

There is so much information to share, but first I thought you may want to know...

How are transnational food companies responding to the obesity epidemic?

This 25 minute presentation was by Brook Leach, former Chief Innovation Officer for the food and drink giant Pepsico. Brook was introduced as a church minister in training, having recently left Pepsico. He was quick to qualify that although some have said that he has gone from "snacks to soft drinks to salvation" the former had not caused the latter.

Pepsico monitors what they call a 'Foodie Pyramid' segmentation of consumers. Which of the following groups do you think you fall into?

• Fanatics - Nutrition enthusiasts who demand good nutrition all the time.
• Wholesome officionados - Actively choose wholesome food options and watch Jamie Oliver.
• Healthy choosers - If given the option, will make healthy choices, but it's not always a natural choice.
• Aspiring choosers - Want to make healthy choices, but only manage to do this part of the time.
• Everyone else - Who eats a mix of some healthy, but mostly unhealthy foods.

Brook's insightful talk was met with some concern from Nutritionist, Rosemary Stanton. She is worried that food companies will just sell more of every category - healthy and not-seo-healthy food. Rosemay gave the example of low-fat ice-cream being counterbalanced calorie-wise with a whole range of indulgent ice-creams. Brooks responded, "I think we'll sell more calories that are healthier."

Here's a summary of Brook's insight:

• The food industry is going though a lot of disruptive change in an era of experimentation.
• Food manufactures are moving away from providing value on price, quality and quantity to values of healthfulness, rich experiences and emotional benefits.
• Wellness is the single largest growth area.
• Food companies are not keen on the idea of taxing junk food to reduce consumption. Instead, they are working on producing more healthy choices, promoting healthy lifestyles and a lifetime of wellness.
• Pepsico is devloping portion control options, including an 8-ounce can and smaller serves in multi-packs.
• The next fronteer is to take nutrient-dense foods (e.g. fruit and vegetables) and make them more pallatable.

12 Sept 2006 - Govt getting tough on junk food?

Over the past few months the debate about banning or taxing junk food has attracted more participants, media attention and serious consideration.

Here's a who's been saying what summary from the papers:

"... the distressing news, at least for someone such as myself, who enjoys a treat, a light snack, is that so many of the things that we like to do are incredibly bad for us when it comes to putting on weight."

"...the basic problem is that every kilojoule of energy, or every calorie, that we consume as food that we don't burn off in exercise ulitmately turns itself into body mass. If the energy we consume equals the energy we expend, our weight is stable. If the equation changes, our weight goes up or down. It is literally as simple as that."
- Hon Tony Abbott, Federal Health Minister at Queensland Obesity Summit, 3-4 May 2006.

"Mr Abbott loves pointing the finger at parents for the alarming rates of overweight and obesity among our children, but the simple fact is governments at all levels can do more to help parents, and they should do more. If we don't, this generation of children could be the first to die at a younger age than their parents."
- Hon Stephen Robertson, Queensland Minister for Health in Media Release, 3 May 2006.

"In the end, the only person responsible for what goes into my mouth is me, and government can't control what people eat, shouldn't control what people eat, and can't and shouldn't control people's exercise."
- Hon Tony Abbott, Federal Health Minister on ABC AM, 28 July 2006.

"I know the Prime Minister doesn't have a weight problem, but I do and I know how hard this is. You've got to create an environment to support people and I think this is just playing osterich and it's wrong."
- Hon Peter Beattie, Queensland Premier on ABC AM, 28 July 2006.

There is no doubt that promotional tactics are a ploy being adopted by unhealthy food companies to try to sell their product... It's little woneder Australian children are facing an obesity epidemic, with unhealthy food companies employing such persuasive tactics that could rival big tobacco companies."
- Kathy Chapman, a nutritionist at the Cancer Council in the Sydney Morning Herald, 14 August 2006.

And then, on 20 August 2006 Professors Paul Zimmet and Phillip James wrote an article in the Medical Journal of Australia ...

The unstoppable Australian obesity and diabetes juggernaut. What should politicians do?

"This epidemic is guaranteed to continue, unless we accept that the decades-long relience on health promotion and intense media coverage of obesity have had virtually no effect... Our politicians need to accept that major legislative and other regulatory measures are required."

They spelt these out:

• Ban all marketing of food to children, including television advertisements.
• Establish strict food and physical activity requirements for schools.
• Remove junk foods and drinks from all publically funded premises.
• Require "traffic light" food labelling (based on nutritional profiling) on all foods, drinks and meals, wherever sold.

12 Sept 2006 - Healthy Happy Meal?

A couple of month's ago I attended the pre-launch of McDonald's new `healthy' Happy Meal. Now on Sept 3, (the day the InternationaI Congress on Obesity opened in Sydney) I see the first magazine advertisement (right).

From Sepember 18, Pasta Zoo meals with a small serve of vegetable and cheese-filled pasta pillows (in animal shapes), tomato pasta dipping sauce and a flavoured milk will be available in all 739 restaurants around Australia.

This healthier kid's meal has considerably less fat and calories than the long-standing McDonald's Happy Meal. Apparently the adults love the pasta too, so watch our for the adult version not too long after that.

If consumers switch from burgers and fries to pasta and Zoo Goo sauce, then this is a positive move. However, like Rosemary Stanton's comment above, it could just mean greater takeaway food consumption all round. Although we're unlikely to see them, McDonald's sales data on the uptake of this healthier option would make interesting reading.

12 Sept 2006 - Aim for big targets

Goal setting is an important part of getting into shape. Knowing exactly how you want to look, what weight you want to be or how you want to feel once you reach your goal weight helps you visualise the end point of your efforts.

But don't wait until you reach a long-term goal to celebrate your success. Reaching a daily or weekly target provides almost immediate success. And who doesn't want to celebrate success sooner!

Look at the size of the red bullseye on the dart board in the advertisement I found in a weekend newspaper. It's talking about investment success, but the principle is the same for getting into shape.

Set yourself large initial targets and you'll be more likely to hit them and feel successful. For example, a target of 3 walks per week in the first 4 weeks of your fitness program is more achievable than a mandatory 7 walks a week.

Even so, if you do fall short of your targets, go easy on yourself. Even professional darts players don't expect to hit the red bulleye everytime. Targets are just that... a focus to aim at today and tomorrow to achieve success to spur you on the next day.

If big goals seem too big at times, aim for a big target today!

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