Plan to ban softdrinks not a fizzer
FRIDAY , 07 JULY 2006
Anti-obesity lobby groups have hit back at criticisms by medical professionals that a plan to ban sugary drinks from schools is "misguided".
Health Minister Pete Hodgson wants all schools to be soft drink-free by 2008 to help fight the obesity epidemic, an idea which has been vigorously pushed by some public health groups.
However, Associate Professor Wayne Cutfield and Dr Paul Hofman, diabetes physicians at Starship and Auckland University, have slated the idea as "misguided and based on weak evidence".
Speaking to the New Zealand Herald last week, Professor Cutfield said the data linking obesity with fizzy drinks was "too tenuous".
"If we are going to introduce social legislation, it's got to be based on science and not just common sense because these are major intrusions into people's lives," he said.
However, advocates of the scheme, Agencies for Nutrition Action (ANA) today expressed disappointment with the comments.
Dr Rachael Taylor, senior lecturer with the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, said there was "no magic bullet" in terms of what contributed to obesity.
"We are never going to cure obesity at a population level from a single dietary change."
However, the fact remained that beverages were the single largest source of sucrose (sugar) in New Zealand children's diets – 26 per cent – and contained no useful nutrients, she said.
"I don't think anyone expects removing soft drinks from schools will cure obesity but it will create a more healthy environment to match that which is taught in the curriculum."
One in 10 children and one in five adults are obese and every year New Zealanders get fatter, putting extra weight on the already-overloaded health system.
Obesity is linked to many disorders, including heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.
The Government plans to spend an extra $76 million over the next four years fighting obesity.
Groups such as the Obesity Action Coalition want high-sugar and high-fat foods banned from sale in schools.
Fight the Obesity Epidemic wants more drastic measures, including increasing taxes on fatty and sugary foods to price these products off shop shelves.
Professor Cutfield and Dr Hofman argue that the rate of obesity has increased not because we are eating more, but because we are less active, with children driven to school instead of walking, and watching more TV.
However, a report released this week by the ANA found that obese, TV-watching children were "virtually as active as the normal-weight non-watchers".
Public Health Association director Gay Keating said children who watched the most TV had double the risk of developing obesity than children who watched the least because they ate more snack foods and fewer fruits and vegetables.
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