NextObesity in Children
One child in nine is obese; 11%.
A further 22% are overweight.
15% of Maori children are obese.
30% of Pacific children are obese.
Children living in poverty are 5 times more likely to be obese.
The NZ Ministry of Health has started a Childhood Obesity Plan, with 22 "action points."
Sadly NONE of those action points are likely to be useful. They all assume that the CAUSE of the problem, is two simple things.
Too many calories and
Not enough exercise.
Both of those concepts have been scientifically invalidated.
Calories are not the causal factor in weight gain, hormones are.
Exercise is a senseless and ineffective way to treat a bad diet.
NZ Ministry of Health Guidelines
All English speaking counties followed the American Guidelines after 1980.
This is American data, but the same sort of dietary change happened everywhere. One difference in New Zealand, is that we still put sugar in our soft drinks rather than high-fructose corn syrup.
Carbohydrate consumption up 18%
Vegetable oil consumption up 120%
Saturated fat consumption down 17%
The result has been a public health disaster.
NZ Health Statistics 2015
NZ Adults - Overweight 31%, plus Obesity 31%,
Maori Adults - Obesity rate 47%, Pacific Adults Obesity rate 66%,
Adults living in poverty are 1.7 times more likely to be obese.
Cancer 337 per 100,000 (rising), Heart disease 1 in 20 adults (rising)
