Letters to Editor: couch potatoes

Re: Sugar tax article (HBT, Dec 28).

My concern over the large increase in obesity is we as a nation should reflect on the changes we make and be held accountable for its effects on the nation's health system, notwithstanding the dramatic changes to society.

While I agree "smoking, sweets, alcohol and fatty foods" are not the approved diet, neither is "PlayStation, Nintendo, X-Boxes, DVDs and TVs".

We have become a nation of "couch potatoes" for most part.

Back in the days, outdoor activities were the norm. Daily exercise, whether it was at school or on the sports field on weekends, was the greater part of family life.

But I have noticed a decline in numbers at local sports clubs and their struggle to stay afloat.

Good, healthy foods were grown by most households.

There were very few "fast food" outlets, so it became a privilege to enjoy, when the opportunity arose.

How times have changed.

I remember Peter Snell travelling school to school to promote participation in sport and, yes, he was sponsored by a tobacco company.

Eating all the goodies was equalised by "burning off' your fats but today a "burn off' is in your motor vehicle chewing rubber.

Is it really the products we indulge in or the way in which we use them? Food for thought.

A term ACC use is "enjoyment of life". Perhaps we should aim for this target.

SHELTON WHITE, Wairoa

Runaway dog

Many thanks to the person who found our small dog on the Tamatea roundabout on New Year's Eve and rang the animal control officer, who transferred it to the council pound.

We often look after this dog when the owner is away and consider our section dog escape proof but, when fireworks exploded across the road from our Marewa home about 9.30pm, the terrified animal did a Houdini and somehow escaped before we could get her inside the house.

Unbeknown to us, the council animal control chap had things in hand.

We, with several neighbours, which was most appreciated, spent many hours searching the adjacent streets to no avail.

Not a good way to spend New Year's Eve and early New Year's Day.

This brings to question the subject of fireworks. Remembering the fun we had as children with them, I am reluctant to wish a total ban, but perhaps the council could restrict the use of them in urban areas to certain days of the year.

This would give the public a timetable to prepare.

N. CROW, Marewa