Where Is National’s “Personal Responsibility”?

The Herald on Sunday makes a good point on National’s opposition to the Public Health Bill currently progressing through the House. In its editorial, the paper states:

“Tony Ryall proved up to the task of concocting the obvious soundbite when he said this was “Helen Clark getting into your pantry”. It plugged neatly into a widespread public perception of this administration as too ready to interfere in private lives, but it quite avoids the issue.”

It is certainly saddening when opposition to what is a pressing health concern is reduced to unintelligent catch phrases, instead of the in-depth discussion and critique that such an issue demands. National’s framing of its opposition to the Bill as a matter of “personal responsibility” cuts straight to its core belief that a little “responsibility” on the part of the individual will solve all of society’s ills. But, as The Herald indicates, this quite avoids the wider issues at stake, including the responsibility that business must carry if a genuine attempt to fix the obesity problem is to be mounted.

National’s “Bluelibs” policy advisory group have also picked up the “personal responsibility” line in their statement on the Bill, which said:  

“The basic message is that it’s not your fault that you’re sick or soon going to be; rather it’s the fault of the fast food chains and liquor companies.“

This kind of thinking just defies all logic and commonsense. It suggests that any onus for responsibility rests solely on the individual, while fast food chains are completely blameless. As a qualified nutritionist, I know only too well that the reality, however, is quite the opposite. There is certainly much more to obesity than simple “personal choice”. Genetics, socio-economic status, food costs, and the way foods are marketed and advertised all play a part in the obesity epidemic. Any approach to tackling obesity must target all of these factors if it is to be successful.

In all of this “personal responsibility” rhetoric, National seem to be saying that advertising and marketing has no effect on the choices one makes; this despite a whole field in academia dedicated to studying purchasing trends and developing ways to increase sales through advertising. The fact that Coca-Cola alone spends in excess of $4,000,000,000 annually in advertising its products adds huge weight to the argument that advertising works.

But advertising and marketing in itself is not the problem, rather the socially irresponsible way in which it is carried out. It is no coincidence that New Zealand’s most deprived and most vulnerable are often targeted by this advertising, and it is certainly no coincidence that the deprived feature more prominently in all negative health indicators. Why is it then that there are liquor and fast food outlets on what seems like every corner in South Auckland, yet scarcely any in New Zealand’s wealthier suburbs? And why does the Right persist in deriding these areas and their residents for their lack of “responsibility”, yet continue to totally oppose any attempt to hold business accountable for their socially irresponsible practices? If the Right’s idea of “responsibility” does not extend to all facets of society, including business, then New Zealand should be very concerned.

It is high time business was held accountable for their role in the obesity epidemic, and Labour should be applauded for taking such a stand. It is very hard to see how National’s approach of placing all onus of responsibility on the individual would make any difference in New Zealand’s obesity statistics when business is free to continue targeting its products in such an irresponsible way. How can we, in all fairness, expect people to make the more “responsible” choice when we allow that choice to be one of the hardest to make? More importantly, how can we, as “responsible” adults, expect our children to know what the more “responsible” choice is when we continue to send them mixed-messages through food advertising and marketing?

 

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