Obesity. Diabetes. Heart health. Staying on the right track is not always simple but there is help out there, and you can help yourself. Katherine Hoby reports in part five of the Keeping Yourself Healthy series.
KEEPING weight off, and diabetes and heart problems at bay, is an important battle
but a tough one.
Bay of Plenty District Health Board public health portfolio manager Brian Pointon painted a picture for the Bay of Plenty Times on the state of Bay locals' health in these crucial areas.
Mr Pointon said Bay of Plenty figures for diabetes, heart problems and obesity - and the associated risk factors - were slightly worse than national rates.
But Bay residents were as active as those in the rest of New Zealand, while people aged 18 to 24 were more active.
Mr Pointon also said we tend to eat less fruit, but more vegetables, and have higher rates of smoking than national rates.
"People are not doing as much as they could do," he said.
He said the information was out there for people to make changes but "having the information isn't enough to make the changes successfully and permanently".
However, he did add there seemed to be a societal shift towards healthier lifestyles, though environments where people relied on their car and saw much more junk food advertising than for fruit and vegetables were not helpful.
Mr Pointon said it had taken a generation to reach current obesity levels, and it would take many years to achieve large scale health gains.
He suggested those concerned about issues like diabetes or obesity slowly increase physical activity through measures like parking further from work or using the stairs instead of lifts.
With diet, replacing white bread with wholemeal or energy drinks with water would allow slow change without cutting out favourite foods completely.
GPs could offer advice on reducing risk of heart disease, and refer people to treatment or health promotion programmes.
Fight the Obesity Epidemic (FOE) is a voluntary organisation that advocates to influence policy changes to stop the rise of Type 2 diabetes and obesity in children.
Its figures show nearly one third of New Zealand children are overweight or obese, some of the fattest in the world.
Preliminary results from the 2002/03 NZ Health Survey show more than half of adults are overweight or obese. Sixty per cent of men and 40 per cent of women are overweight. Of these, 20 per cent of are obese.
Diabetes is on the increase in New Zealand. Recently type 2 diabetes has begun to appear more in children and teenagers, as more and more of them are becoming overweight.
It is the most common form of diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes is sometimes called insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes.
Diabetes New Zealand's national president Mike Smith said there had been an alarming number of young people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes nationwide over the last two years.
There were also 400,000 people living in New Zealand who have diabetes but do not know it, and another 400,000 who have pre-diabetes.
Those with pre-diabetes had symptoms such as high levels of glucose.
"If it's confirmed they have pre-diabetes and they're put on a strict, careful regime of diet and exercise and they work hard they might not get it," Mr Smith said.
It was therefore vital to go and get checked early.
Serious health complications could follow if diabetes went undiagnosed - renal problems, eyes failing, heart attack, or stroke.
Mr Smith knows of one man diagnosed with diabetes 13 years ago who did not tell his wife of his condition.
He recently had both legs amputated below the knee.
"The longer they stay in denial the more damage they're doing to their bodies. It's about self ownership and management."
There were some simple actions people could take to try to prevent themselves or their children developing diabetes.
"It's about walks. It's about going to the park, or kicking a ball and having some good family time. It doesn't have to be complicated," he said.
A healthy diet including five servings of fruit and vegetables a day was also important.
For those with diabetes, education classes and supermarket tours ran in most centres, Mr Smith said.
Those who were partners or supporters of people with diabetes were often called "Type 3s", he laughed.
"If there's someone in denial they need to be encouraging for that person to seek help. And they need to get involved: speak to the dietitian, go to the education classes, and look at their own lifestyle.
"People with diabetes don't want sympathy, they want support."
