Report links obesity and cancer
May 15, 2006
A Ministry of Health report estimates that more than half of New Zealand adults are overweight or obese, conditions which are being directly linked with cancer and other serious health problems.
And alarmed health experts are questioning whether there will be sufficient funds to cope with an expected escalation in obesity-related illnesses.
The 57 page document says 34% of New Zealanders over the age of 15 are overweight and 20% are classed as obese. That adds up to 54% of the population in the danger zone - a zone that for many leads to diabetes, coronary heart disease or high blood pressure.
Health Minister Pete Hodgson describes the situation as a "crisis" and says an obesity epidemic is the country's most pressing public health challenge.
Hodgson says that work to combat obesity has been underway at a government and community level for some time, but it is now time to accelerate efforts.
"A lot of people have been looking for a crisis in health," Hodgson says.
"This is it. One in five New Zealanders are obese and we can only begin to imagine what that will mean for the future of our health system."
The report also found only two out of five people are eating the recommended five-plus a day servings of fruit and vegetables.
Meantime an Australian study just released has found obesity can also trigger cancer.
"Overall overweight and obesity now account for between 14 and 20% of all cancer deaths," Graham Colditz of the Harvard Centre for Cancer Prevention says.
Some are warning dire consequences for the health system.
"The results for the health system in this country are huge and in fact could easily exceed our ability to pay for them," human nutrition professor John Birkbeck of Massey University says.
The Ministry of Health currently spends $18 million a year on obesity prevention.
They say Thursday's Budget will add even more weight to that figure.
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