“A rapidly growing obesity epidemic” now affects about one-third of children in New Zealand and has the government grappling with a national strategy to cope with the problem, the country's director of public health reports. “We need a society-wide response to this,” says Dr. Colin Tukiotonga.
The Fight the Obesity Epidemic (FOE) group would like to see items such as soft drinks, potato chips and pies removed from school “tuck shops,” and it wants a ban forbidding stores from selling fast food within a kilometre of schools. The group's spokesperson, endocrinologist Robyn Toomath, says members would also like to see New Zealand follow the lead of Sweden and Norway in limiting prime-time TV advertising directed at young children.
Jim Collier, CEO of Restaurant Brands NZ Ltd., agrees that obesity must be addressed, but maintains that “global research indicates that the primary driver of obesity is reduced activity, not increased calorie consumption.”
Tukiotonga says obesity is becoming common because New Zealand is “shifting very much to a North American takeout diet culture.”
Toomath say there have been “huge changes in the mode of eating” across all socioeconomic groups in the country. Public concern is so great that the government recently received more than 400 submissions on the topic. It hopes to enact legislation within a year. Collier insists his industry is open to change. “Consumer attitudes are clearly changing, and we're in the business of adapting to them.” — Heather Kent, Vancouver