Canberra venues and events could be forced to sell healthier food and drink if they don't voluntarily do more to help fight the city's obesity epidemic.
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The ACT government will announce on Thursday it will review the costs and benefits of promoting healthy food by sporting clubs, businesses and venues with a view to introduce "mandatory requirements".
The audit will be backed by some of the extra $755,000 the government will inject into the Healthy Weight Initiative, in response to the junk food and drink marketing consultation it ran last year, ACT assistant health minister Meegan Fitzharris said.
"I'd like to be clear that our approach is to work with the community and industry on taking serious steps towards promoting healthy food, drinks and lifestyles," she said.
"If voluntary approaches don't work, we will consider regulatory approaches in three years. These could include options to restrict or regulate advertising of unhealthy food and drinks in places and at points of sale where children are highly exposed to these messages."
It is unclear how far the restrictions would reach or how they would be enforced.
"Other measures we will implement include establishing a project to find innovative ways to provide healthier food and drink at sporting club canteens, and help sporting clubs broker 'healthy' sponsorships," Ms Fitzharris said.
"The government is also working collaboratively with five local businesses, through the Choose Healthier pilot project, to trial actions to increase the promotion and availability of healthier food and drinks, and reduce the marketing of unhealthy options.
Following the pilot's proven success, she said it would be granted $250,000 to run for two more years.
One in four children in the ACT is overweight or obese and one in five Canberra children has at least six cups of sugary drinks a week.
Ms Fitzharris said the government would also install more water stations around Canberra, hold a competition for Canberrans to design healthy food and drink marketing, and work with children and young people to understand their views on how to reduce unhealthy habits.
The announcement comes after the ACT government said in June it could restrict junk food advertising aimed at children and remove unhealthy food from supermarket checkouts as it considers ways to tackle Canberra's childhood obesity epidemic.
The Heart Foundation ACT, which worked with the government in its junk food marketing review, said it revealed 78 per cent of food and drink marketing in the ACT was unhealthy.
Chief executive Tony Stubbs said it stressed the urgent action needed to protect the health of Canberra's next generation.