The report called for a levy to incentivise a reduction in the amount of sugar in food, the removal of sugary drinks from schools and ensuring healthy food was served in hospitals. Photo: 123rf.com
The Helen Clark Foundation report proposes:
- Introducing a levy on sugar in food, to bring levels down.
- Removing sugary drinks from schools.
- Ensuring healthy food is served in hospitals.
- Adopting new technologies and treatments for the prevention and treatment of obesity.
The New Zealand Dental Association and Health Coalition Aotearoa have thrown their support behind a new Helen Clark Foundation report that calls for urgent government intervention to tackle obesity.
The report said obesity was now the leading risk factor for death and disability in New Zealand, ahead of smoking.
It said that more than one in three New Zealand adults were obese, the third-highest rate in the OECD, while one in eight children was affected.
The numbers were significantly worse for Māori and Pasifika people.
It called for a levy to incentivise a reduction in the amount of sugar in food, the removal of sugary drinks from schools and ensuring healthy food was served in hospitals.
Health Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Boyd Swinburn said the government needed to take action, and a levy was an obvious choice.
"I mean it's easy technically to introduce, and about half the world is under a sugar drinks tax, so this is nothing new or radical.
"And its something that's been proven to have an impact very quickly, especially on dental health." he said.
The New Zealand Dental Association's Dr Rob Beaglehole agreed, and said the number one source of sugar in youth's diets was sugary drinks.
"It's a no brainer, we know the unequivocal evidence states that taxes and levies work, we know that junkfood ads and bans work.
"It doesn't make sense for schools to be selling sickness to kids, in the form of sugary drinks."
Tooth decay rates in Aotearoa were shocking, Beaglehole said.
"The number one reason children got admitted to New Zealand hospital last year, was to have a general anaesthetic to have one or multiple rotten teeth removed, so 8500 children last year had to go to sleep in hospital to have their teeth taken out."
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti was asked for an interview but was unavailable.
In a statement, he said he remained focused on addressing noncommunicable diseases.
"I'm very focused on accelerating action to address five noncommunicable diseases: diabetes, along with cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and poor mental health.
"I've addressed these as a priority in our Government Policy Statement on Health released this year because together, these conditions account for around 80 percent of deaths from non-communicable diseases in New Zealand and considerable health loss experienced by New Zealanders, including around obesity.
"Improved prevention of these non-communicable diseases will be achieved through addressing five modifiable risk factors: alcohol, tobacco, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and adverse social and environmental factors.
Health Minister Shane Reti. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"While we know there's still a great amount of work to be done on addressing those root causes, I have also been very pleased to see Pharmac's decision to fund continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps and insulin pump consumables for people with type one diabetes from 1 October.
"That's been big news for the diabetes community, who expect to see a reduction in diabetes related distress, fewer hospitalisations and medical complications, and huge improvement in the community's mental wellbeing and quality of life." the statement said.
Associate Minister of Health Matt Doocey said in a statement he was actively seeking advice on what actions the government could take to improve nutrition in New Zealand.
"In my capacity as the Associate Minister for Health with the delegation for nutrition, I am actively seeking advice on what actions the government can do to improve nutrition in New Zealand.
"The government funds the Heart Foundation in New Zealand to work with food companies to reduce sugar and salt in their products, Health NZ also funds Green Prescriptions for people wanting to be more active, with the most common reason being to support weight management." a statement from Doocey's office said.
But Boyd Swinburn wanted action now.
"Politicians have been too timid and have been put off by the potential pushback from industry.
"If they're going to do something positive about food and childhood obesity in this country, unfortunately they are going to have to take on the food industry and be tough about it on behalf of children," Swinburn said.
Report co-author Murray Bruges said levies had worked in other countries like the UK.
"These are policies that have been shown to work in comparable countries where they've reduced obesity, they've improved workforce productivity and they've reduced the strain on the public health budget.
"Despite the fact that we've allowed our unhealthy food environment through quite a lot of damage in New Zealand, we actually have a great opportunity to improve things."
He said implementing the recommendations would reduce the strain on the public health budget.
"We've spent about $2 billion a year on treating diseases associated with obesity. That's about 8 percent of our total health budget.
"You know, if you could save even some of that, that would free up a lot of money within the health budget, for other priorities like elective surgeries for instance."
Bruges said inaction would only make the problem worse, and the same failed policies of the past would be repeated.
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