Bad eating habits 'locked into culture'

A New Zealand doctor who specialises in obesity says it comes as no surprise that the country now ranks at number seven in an OECD league of the world's most obese nations.

Wellington hospital director of clinical services Robyn Toomath said it had to be expected, considering a third of New Zealand primary school children were overweight.

She said that across the board, New Zealanders were more obese than ever, yet there was a particular problem among Maori, and the figures were higher again for Pacific Islanders.

New Zealand, with 20.9 per cent of the population classified as obese, ranks seventh on the latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) list of the world's fattest countries.

Australia has a 21.7 per cent obesity rate, and the United States has ballooned into first place with 30.6 per cent.

Dr Toomath, who is also a spokeswoman for Fight the Obesity Epidemic, blames the rise on the marketing of junk food.

"We are terribly prone to marketing techniques which are unbelievably diverse, and subtle and powerful."

She said products previously consumed only occasionally, such as chips and soft drinks, - " " - were now "locked into culture, as something you eat several times a day".

Dr Toomath, who says there has been a tremendous increase in obesity locally over a very short period of time, said the growth was leading to eating-related illnesses filtering down to children.

"There's been a rise in diabetes, and surgeons are now having to do gall bladder operations on children, which is something we used to say only occurred if you were 'fat and forty'."

Whereas in the past, a lack of education has been pinpointed as a major fat factor, Dr Toomath said times had changed.

"A vast majority of people who are overweight are fully aware potato chips, soft drinks, pies and chocolate biscuits are things that make you fat, so educating people about fatty foods is a waste of time."

She said the only way of stopping the bulge in numbers was to re-engineer society.

"We have to put a different frame around it and say 'look, what do we have to do to protect our children from becoming obese'?"

Huge progress could be made once that framework was in place, she said.

"Like taking advertising of junk food off TV and taking junk food out of schools ... That is the beginning."

Obesity, worst 10

Country and percentage of population:
United States 30.6
Mexico 24.2
Britain 23
Slovak Republic 22.4
Greece 21.9
Australia 21.7
New Zealand 20.9
Hungary 18.8
Luxembourg 18.4
Czech Republic 14.8
(Source: OECD)

- NZPA