New Zealand second to USA !
But don’t start cheering just yet.
New Zealanders were the second most obese in the 44 OECD countries.
New Zealanders were the second most obese in the 44 OECD countries.
See the diagram above for the percentage of the NZ population! Overweight people are at much greater risk of diabetes and heart problems. Their expectation of life is less and they are a great burden on the Health Service.
We all know that the two main causes are bad eating habits and insufficient exercise- click for graph.
The way in which successive Governments have attacked this increasing problem is to hold inquiries and to provide pamphlets and leaflets to inform people of the risks and encourage them to eat a suitable diet and exercise more. So we had the HEHA, Healthy Eating Healthy Action campaign, but has this really made much difference? It doesn’t seem to be much more than a paper war. The amount of fruit being eaten may have risen but is this getting to the core of the matter? We made a submission in 2006 to the Health Select Committee on the inquiry into Obesity and Type two diabetes. (You can read an independent comment on what we said here.)
Briefly, almost every town has one or more fast food outlets. The food from these has frequently been blamed for the rise in obesity, and you may have seen the 2004 film “Super Size Me” which dramatised the effects. So if there are places which help you to put on weight, shouldn’t there be some where you can learn to take it off? And not just that, keep fit for people of all ages.
Why shouldn’t every town (and many country places) have a small “Healthy Living” (or “Healthy Life” if you prefer) centre where people can exercise, swim, learn how to stay at their best weight, learn a better diet, perhaps even eat at a cafe serving healthy food? It should be a fun place, run by locals, and funded by central government because local rates won’t usually pay for it. OK, taxes would subsidise it if necessary, but as you will see there are many savings in other directions. We need a far-seeing Government to adopt this idea, but a pilot scheme would cost little.
Please explore this website to find out all about this. The principles go back to the Peckham Experiment of 1926*, and are being broadly followed by communities such as the Shetland Islands.
(*What worked very well in a working class area of London nearly 100 years ago would need some small changes to suit present day New Zealanders, but the general idea is the same. Click here or here for more information on the Experiment if you have time.)
We all know that the two main causes are bad eating habits and insufficient exercise-
The way in which successive Governments have attacked this increasing problem is to hold inquiries and to provide pamphlets and leaflets to inform people of the risks and encourage them to eat a suitable diet and exercise more. So we had the HEHA, Healthy Eating Healthy Action campaign, but has this really made much difference? It doesn’t seem to be much more than a paper war. The amount of fruit being eaten may have risen but is this getting to the core of the matter? We made a submission in 2006 to the Health Select Committee on the inquiry into Obesity and Type two diabetes. (You can read an independent comment on what we said here.)
Briefly, almost every town has one or more fast food outlets. The food from these has frequently been blamed for the rise in obesity, and you may have seen the 2004 film “Super Size Me” which dramatised the effects. So if there are places which help you to put on weight, shouldn’t there be some where you can learn to take it off? And not just that, keep fit for people of all ages.
Why shouldn’t every town (and many country places) have a small “Healthy Living” (or “Healthy Life” if you prefer) centre where people can exercise, swim, learn how to stay at their best weight, learn a better diet, perhaps even eat at a cafe serving healthy food? It should be a fun place, run by locals, and funded by central government because local rates won’t usually pay for it. OK, taxes would subsidise it if necessary, but as you will see there are many savings in other directions. We need a far-
Please explore this website to find out all about this. The principles go back to the Peckham Experiment of 1926*, and are being broadly followed by communities such as the Shetland Islands.
(*What worked very well in a working class area of London nearly 100 years ago would need some small changes to suit present day New Zealanders, but the general idea is the same. Click here or here for more information on the Experiment if you have time.)
