THE New Zealand government has launched a $NZ40 million ($A39 million) anti-obesity campaign aimed at persuading people to eat healthy food and exercise more.
TEAMS of health experts will work with community organisations, schools and Maori leaders to get the message across that obesity carries serious health risks and there are ways to deal with it.
“The program challenges communities to think differently about how to address the underlying causes of poor health at a local level,” Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said when he launched the program on Friday. “It’s about encouraging people to live healthier lives by making good food choices, being physically active, moderating alcohol consumption and being smoke-free.” The program is designed on an Australian model which has been carefully monitored in Victoria, where it was proved to have reduced the waistlines of overweight children. The latest New Zealand survey shows three in every 10 adults and one in nine children are obese. “We’re getting bigger all the time, and if we don’t take steps to intervene this generation of kids are going to be living shorter lives than their parents,” Dr Coleman said.