NZ: ANZ Obesity Society Conference, October 2012
Aucland is hosting Australia NZ Obesity Society’s annual scientific meeting this October. Early bird registration now open.
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Obesity News 159
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
US: Effectiveness of Front of Package Food Labelling Systems
The British Multiple Traffic Light front-of-package labelling system has red, yellow, and green symbols. They show which foods to eat sparingly, in moderation, or freely. A new review shows this system best helps consumers identify healthier products.
Read the research: Public Health Nutrition, Online 7 Feb 2012 (PDF)
Read more about the research: Rudd Radar, 9 Apr 2012
NZ: Milo diverts attention to physical activity in new marketing campaign
Milo PLAY Movement
A report commissioned by food manufacturer Nestle Milo has been getting a lot of media coverage recently. It claims to show that “nearly 1 in 2 (46%) children don’t play every day.”
The report is so shoddy that it doesn’t even give the question asked to obtain this finding, let alone say whether it was the children, parents or grandparents included in the survey who provided the data.
This is part of a clever marketing campaign by Nestle Milo. They are “calling for New Zealand families to come together and incorporate active play into each and every day” and have also launched a Facebook page where they claim to be “the official drink of play”.
While we totally support kids being involved in active, unstructured play, we would be more excited if Nestle Milo, as a food company, addressed food issues and the amount of sugar in its products, rather than focusing on physical activity. After all:
- Milo “energy food drink” is 46 percent sugar. And – another physical activity connection – it’s sponsored by NZ Cricket (source: Robin’s pantry);
- children’s breakfast cereal Nestle Milo is 27.2% sugar (source: Supermarket packet).
Read ‘The New Zealand State of Play report’
Some of the media coverage
Milo positions itself as the official drink of play in new ‘Play Movement’ campaign
Creative advertising trade magazine Campaign Brief outlines Milo’s new campaign and asks readers to vote if they think it is a clever strategy by Milo.
Source: Campaign Brief.co.nz, 12 Mar 2012
Kids miss out on vital play time
Source: NZ Herald, 12 March 2012
NZ: State to trim fat by targeting mums-to–be in obesity battle
State to target mums-to-be
The government is set to reduce funding for adult nutrition programmes and will instead target pregnant women to tackle the obesity crisis.
FOE says: nothing wrong in targeting future mums, but again the focus is on ineffective education rather than changing the food environment to make healthy choices easier.
Read more: Dominion Post/Stuff, 10 Mar 2012
Fat, fate and disease – giving up on a generation?
Green Party MP, Kevin Hague, comments on the proposed changes to nutrition funding by the Ministry of Health. He has three strong arguments for continuing to fund existing nutrition programmes as well as targeting parents-to-be.
Read more: Green Party Frogblog, 13 March 2012
Obesity News 158
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
Australian and NZ stakeholders divided on nutrition labelling
Nutrition Labelling: Australia NZ highlight stakeholder division
This ‘management briefing’ looks at the debate between industry, government and campaigners in Australia and New Zealand on what to put on front-of-pack nutrition labels.
Read more: Just Food, 1 Mar 2012
NZ: Fat List: 49 foods to avoid
Otago University researchers have put together a list of 49 foods that are heavy on calories but light on nutrition. The list is for health practitioners who provide advice to overweight or obese patients.
Read more: NZ Herald, 24 Feb 2012
Read the press release from Otago University, 24 Feb 2012
Read the article in the NZ Medical Journal, 24 Feb 2012
NZ: Foods we needn’t eat
Media Release
Fight the Obesity Epidemic (FOE)
24 February 2012
Foods we needn’t eat
“The NEEDNT food list compiled by University of Otago researchers has great potential,” says Dr Robyn Toomath, spokesperson for Fight the Obesity Epidemic (FOE).
“The list shows that a large proportion of the products sold in supermarkets and convenience stores, and virtually everything at fast food outlets, is actually NEEDNT food – non-essential, energy dense, nutritionally deficient junk food. It is precisely these foods that are so much at the heart of the obesity epidemic in New Zealand, which is threatening to cripple the health system.”
“Using a nutrition assessment tool to identify foods such as the ones on this list is a logical way of identifying produce which should be banned for advertising to children, and subject to extra tax,” Dr Toomath says. “These aren’t just foods we needn’t eat, they’re foods we shouldn’t eat more than occasionally. The Government must do much more to help people avoid NEEDNT foods.”
The NEEDNT food list has just been published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.
Australia and NZ: Call for submissions on draft nutrition and health claims standard
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has called for submissions on its draft nutrition, health and related claims Standard.
It says the proposed new standard would regulate voluntary statements made by manufacturers on labels about the nutrition content of a food, or a relationship between a food and health.
Submissions close on 16 March.
Read the FSANZ media release: 17 Feb 2012
‘Fat-free’ foods fail the test
More than 100 food products, ranging from breakfast cereals to lollies making ”fat-free” claims, fail to provide acceptable levels of nutrition, official food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand says.
It is calling for measures to control nutrition and health claims on Australian and New Zealand food.
Read more: Sydney Morning Herald, 17 Feb 2012
Obesity News 157
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
Obesity News 156
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
US: Food company computer games increase junk food consumption
US food company pledges to reduce marketing of unhealthy products to children are a sham. They are using their websites to target children.
A Yale University study found that children are disproportionately targeted by food company websites using branded computer games, known as advergames.
Researchers also found that playing these games increases children’s consumption of junk food.
Only one website in their analysis used advergames to promote primarily healthy foods.
They conclude: “These findings support the need for restrictions on companies’ use of advergames to market nutritionally poor foods to children.”
Read the article in Journal of Children and the Media, Online 20 Jan 2012
Read more about junk food advergame research, Yale Univ News, 9 Jan 2012
Obesity News 155
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
US: The single, most significant cause of childhood obesity
A recent Tufts University review of studies published between 1990 and 2007 found that, for school-aged children, sugar sweetened beverages were the most consistent dietary factor associated in increases in fatness.
The review suggested interventions to reduce consumption, such as drinking water.
Read more: Psychology Today, 2 Jan 2012
Obesity News 154
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
It includes:
- Australian and New Zealand ministers’ response to the food labelling review
- reaction from FOE and other health, consumer and industry groups.
Ministers back interpretive front-of-pack nutrition labelling
Australian and New Zealand ministers discussed front-of-pack food labelling at a recent meeting in Melbourne. One of their decisions has the potential to be a major step forward for public health. The ministers agreed that:
“an interpretative front-of-pack labelling system be developed that is reflective of a comprehensive Nutrition Policy and agreed public health priorities”.
An interpretive system attempts to make it easier for people to distinguish healthier from less healthy food choices.
FOE wants an interpretive system and has supported a traffic light system (using green, amber and red symbols) as the best available interpretive model.
Background
The ministers came to their decision at the meeting of the Forum on Food Regulation on 9 December 2011. The Forum (previously called the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council), comprised Australian federal, state and territory ministers, and Kate Wilkinson, New Zealand’s Minister of Food Safety.
The Forum met to make decisions on recommendations made by the review panel for the Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy. One of the panel’s recommendations, following submissions from many public health and consumer groups, was the introduction of a multiple traffic light system.
Traffic lights not adopted by the Forum
Health and consumer groups were disappointed that the Forum didn’t adopt the recommendation for traffic light labels. However, the Forum’s decision to develop an interpretive system backs the main thrust of consumer and health submissions to the Review.
Officially the recommendation to introduce a traffic light system is “on hold” pending the outcome of a development process for an interpretive system.
Daily Intake Guide rejected by the Forum
Food industry submissions to the Review supported the Daily Intake Guide system (DIG). This was developed by the Australian Food and Grocery Council and supported by New Zealand’s Food and Grocery Council. The Forum effectively rejected this approach by noting that the DIG is not an interpretive system. It relies on people thinking about the percentage of recommended daily intake of various food components when making food choices.
The next step – developing a new system
The Forum called for further work to develop a front-of-pack system that builds on and seeks to overcome limitations of existing systems. They cite Sanitarium’s proposed Healthy Eating System which is a development of traffic light labels, and the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation’s eMark, as having “the potential to overcome the technical objections raised by industry”.
The next step is a government-led collaborative process “that brings polarised views together to build on existing common ground”. The timetable is to develop a new system by December 2012. Some stakeholders, both from public health and industry, think this timetable is too tight.
What if a collaborative approach fails?
The Forum concludes its statement on front-of-pack labelling as follows:
“If major points of difference are or can be resolved, consistent voluntary implementation by industry will be encouraged, supported by consumer education initiatives by government. Alternatively, depending on the level of consensus, either a pilot of the model interpretive system (if one is agreed) or a market-based comparative trial conducted by government, may be the next step.”
This is encouraging. The Forum appears to be saying it will not be happy for the status quo to continue, and unless industry moves to introduce an agreed interpretive system, governments will consider taking steps to bring pressure on them to do so.
Read the Forum’s Communique after the meeting.
Read the Forum’s report (PDF 542 KB)
Obesity News 153
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world. This issue includes:
NZ: Information on nutrition scarce at fast-food counters
Less than 1 per cent of nutritional information provided by fast food chains is available when people buy their food, a study has found.
Read more: NZ Herald, 17 Nov 2011
Fast food chains “lite” on accessible nutrition information
Nutrition information for meals at New Zealand fast food chains is available but not easily accessible according to a study by researchers at The University of Auckland.
Read more from Auckland University, 17 Nov 2011
Read the journal abstract in Appetite, Online 12 Oct 2011
NZ: Food minister can’t comment on traffic-light labels
Minister of Food Safety, Kate Wilkinson, is unable to comment on the Government’s position on traffic-light food labelling until she has until she has presented them to next month’s meeting of the Trans-Tasman food ministers’ council.
A report released earlier this year recommended introducing a voluntary multiple traffic lights front-of-pack food labelling system, but said it should be mandatory if health claims are made.
Officials from the New Zealand Government, and Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, are developing responses to the report’s recommendations. Their responses will be considered by the Australian New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council at its meeting in December 2011.
Read more: NZ Herald, 17 Nov 2011
Read FOE’s position on traffic light food labelling
Political parties differ on obesity prevention – FOE survey
FOE recently questioned political parties about issues considered likely to contribute significantly to reducing obesity, and diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
One question was about traffic light nutrition labelling.
Read FOE’s report, Responses of New Zealand political parties to questions about obesity prevention
NZ: Political parties differ on obesity prevention – FOE survey
Media Release
FOE (Fight the Obesity Epidemic)
10 November 2011
Parties differ on obesity prevention
Political parties seeking election in 2011 have some very different approaches to preventing obesity, according to a report just released by Fight the Obesity Epidemic (FOE).
FOE obtained responses from seven parties considered as having some likelihood of gaining at least one seat. Parties were asked about five issues considered likely to contribute significantly to reducing obesity, and diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
“One party stands out as having a clear picture of what is needed,” says FOE spokesperson Dr Robyn Toomath. “The Green Party show they fully understand the need to change the environment driving the obesity epidemic.”
Green policies commended by FOE include prohibiting junk food advertising on TV before 8.30pm, support for traffic light labelling on food packaging to help consumers distinguish healthier choices, and a tax on soft drinks.
“Labour, the Māori Party and New Zealand First also have a number of useful policies,” Dr Toomath says.
“Along with the Greens, these parties all support reinstatement of the provision in school administration guidelines that only healthy food is to be available for sale on school premises.” This provision was removed by the National-led government in February 2009.
Dr Toomath says she found the range of views on GST is of interest, particularly given that Labour is proposing to remove GST from fruit and vegetables.
The Māori Party advocates removal of GST from all food. National, ACT, United Future and the Green Party oppose removal of GST from fruit and vegetables. The Greens argue that this is not the most effective way to make healthy food more affordable.
Read the report: Responses of New Zealand political parties to questions about obesity prevention
Obesity News 152
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
Australia: Health organisations back call for Traffic Light labelling
Australian health organisations have co-signed a letter from consumer advocacy group CHOICE. They are urging the Australian Federal Government to adopt the traffic light front-of-pack food labelling scheme and not to be swayed by industry bodies – whose primary interest is the pursuit of profits.
Earlier this year a review of food labelling in Australia and New Zealand recommended a traffic light system on the front of packaged food. It said:
That a multiple traffic lights front-of-pack labelling system be introduced. Such a system to be voluntary in the first instance, except where general or high level health claims are made or equivalent endorsements/trade names/marks appear on the label, in which case it should be mandatory.
Most food manufacturers are fiercely opposing this recommendation. Sanitarium is the exception. It has developed a system similar to traffic lights after its research found colour-coded systems were most effective in informing consumer choice.
Read more about the call for action, AusFood News, 28 Oct 2011
Find out why FOE likes a traffic light food labelling system.
World’s first fat tax: what will it achieve?
US nutritionist Marion Nestle thinks Denmark is an enviably healthy country. She asks why it is leading the world in taxing unhealthy food – and whether the tax will work. She can’t wait to see the results.
Read more: New Scientist, 23 October 2011
UK: Government’s obesity plan criticised
The British Government has released a new plan to tackle obesity, saying that while physical activity is important, eating or drinking too many calories is at the heart of the obesity problem. It is calling for a reduction of the national calorie intake by five billion calories a day.
Part of the plan is asking the food and drink industry to extend and intensify their efforts to help people make healthier choices. This includes reformulating products so they are healthier, and reducing portion sizes. It won’t require industry to act, relying instead on voluntary “self-regulation”.
Reaction to the obesity plan
“That’s a fat lot of good: the minister tells us to eat less but won’t put pressure on the food giants, ” says the Daily Mail. It follows with comments from public health and food campaigners. They criticise the plan.
The British Medical Journal says the plan focuses only on individual responsibility and fails to tackle the influence of the food and drinks industry.
The Guardian quotes Jamie Oliver as saying the obesity plan is “worthless, regurgitated, patronising rubbish”. One health expert condemned it for having “no clear measures on how the food and drink industry will be made to be more responsible in their aggressive marketing of unhealthy food.”
Consumer group Which? says the approach is woefully inadequate. “The government is telling people to cut down on calories, but isn’t providing tools to help them such as traffic-light food labelling or calorie labelling on food chain menus.”
Shadow Public Health minister Diane Abbott told The Independent that the obesity strategy was pathetic. “It makes no sense to me that companies that spend billions of pounds every year peddling fizzy drinks and trans-fat-loaded food are seriously going to eat into their profits by trying to change the public’s eating habits.”
Professor Philip James of the International Association for the Study of Obesity says, “It is not simply a question of personal responsibility. There is an environmental problem in terms of the food system we have,” according to the BBC. He added that the junk food industry “manipulates” people into consuming their products and that legislation is needed.
Food manufacturers rejected these criticisms.
Denmark introduces tax on fatty foods to improve life expectancy
Denmark has just introduced a tax on saturated fats in processed foods. The Washington Post reports the tax was approved by large majority in the Danish parliament last March as a move to help curb the country’s unhealthy eating habits and increase the population’s average life expectancy. Denmark already had extra taxes on soft drinks, chocolates and soft drinks.
This follows a similar move in Hungary last month to impose special taxes on foods with high sugar, salt and fat content.
The new Danish tax has caused worldwide reaction.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, Sciblog blogger Amanda Johnson asks whether this country should follow Denmark’s lead and have a surcharge on foods high in saturated fat. She refers to FOE’s 2004 call for a fat tax.
New Zealands’s Food Industry Group (FIG) – a lobby group including the Food and Grocery Council and advertising and communications groups – says a fat tax is unlikely to have any effect on obesity levels.
This is FIG’s standard response to every intervention it doesn’t like. Further, by focussing just on obesity, FIG ignores the role of saturated fat in cardiovascular disease. FOE believes that no single intervention will alone turn around the obesity epidemic, but a fat tax is one of the interventions in a wide-ranging mix that we need to implement in order to make significant progress.
Radio New Zealand reports health Minister Tony Ryall saying the Government has no plans to introduce a fat tax.
Australia
Green Party leader Bob Brown has called for Australia to examine the introduction of a saturated fat tax to cut obesity.
Deakin University’s Gary Sacks says modelling clearly shows that putting a tax on unhealthy foods and subsidising fruit and vegetables would end up making the population a lot healthier in the long term. FOE made a similar proposal to introduce both taxes and subsidies in its 2006 submission to the Health Select Inquiry into Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.
Food manufacturers’ lobby group the Australian Food and Grocery Council says that introducing a tax on saturated fat in foods is “regressive” and isn’t the answer to addressing obesity levels.
The Obesity Policy Coalition’s Jane Martin gives her views on the tax in a Crikey blog. She says it is a real-world experiment that could help shape obesity prevention policies in Australia, and potentially “sweeten the palate” for a soft drink tax.
UK
The Daily Mirror has a debate about the benefits of a fat tax in Britain. A fat tax supporter explains why a fat tax is the best way to save the NHS billions. An opponent points out a fat tax won’t prevent massive obesity.
In a surprise move, British Prime Minister David Cameron told a Conservative Party conference that Britain shouldn’t rule out introducing a fat tax and that drastic action was needed to prevent health costs soaring and life expectancy falling. The Guardian reports.
The Daily Mirror also interviews two “experts” who set out the arguments for and against a fat tax. As well, a Scottish nutrition expert argues the case for reducing trans and saturated fats and explains why they are bad for us. “Reducing Trans- and Saturated fats will do little or nothing for efforts to combat obesity – it is to do with preventing heart disease,” he says
Obesity News 151
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
It has links to the following stories – and many others:
- The UN summit on non-communicable diseases in New York, 19-20 September
- The latest NZ nutrition survey
- An article about FOE spokesperson, Dr Robyn Toomath
.
A special supplement of Obesity News has links to stories about the UN Summit on non-communicable diseases
Read the 3 October 2011 supplement.
UK: TV viewing linked to unhealthy eating
Researchers reviewed over 50 studies worldwide that looked at sedentary behaviour and dietary intake.
They found a clear association between screen time and an unhealthy diet in children, adolescents and adults. In particular, television viewing was strongly associated with the consumption of energy-dense snacks, drinks and fast food, and a lower consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Read the abstract: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Aug 2011
Read more: Media Release, Loughborough University, 14 Sep 2011
UN Summit to tackle ‘lifestyle’ diseases – updated
Updated 12 October 2011
The UN held a top-level Summit on the worldwide prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and lung disease in New York, 19-20 September.
The Summit came up with a resolution for government action against physical inactivity and use of harmful food ingredients, tobacco and alcohol. This resolution, worked out by officials before the meeting, was earlier watered down. It lacks specific targets and time-lines. Health groups point to industry influence.
Justice Minister, Simon Power lead the New Zealand delegation. Chief Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, accompanied him.
WHO website has links to the meeting and its key documents including the Declaration
Read the UN news release after they adopted the declaration (19 September)
The NCD Alliance has links to many of the media stories from around the world.
FOE put out supplements to Obesity News with media coverage of the Summit on 14 September and 3 October.
Other media coverage about the UN Summit
NCDs: celebrating success, moving forward
New Zealand’s Professor Robert Beaglehole and others comment on the Summit outcomes. They identify two urgent tasks: publicising the Declaration and encouraging the succesful delivery of its four key short-term commitments.
Read more: The Lancet, 8 Oct 2011 (Free registration needed for full text.)
Did the U.N. Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases Count?
Ann Keeling, chair of the NCD Alliance, gives her view on what actually happened at the Summit. “We’ve come out of this,” says Keeling, “with 193 governments committing to create change. Now we have to hold their feet to the fire.”
Read more: Huffington Post, 29 Sep 2011
Two days in New York: Reflections on the UN NCD Summit
An editorial in The Lancet Oncology reflects on the progress made at the UN’s high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and highlights the commitments made in the resulting Declaration.
Read the editorial: Lancet Oncology, October 2011
Editorial calls UN summit declaration underwhelming, lacking ambition, and reflective of industry interests
An editorial published Online First in The Lancet Oncology describes the long-awaited declaration resulting from this week’s UN Summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in New York, as a “watered-down document reflective of national and industry interests” that “lacks tangible targets”, and “is a more politically correct declaration than a political declaration of war”.
Read more: The Lancet/Eureka Alert, 22 Sep 2011
Lots of talk, little action from crucial UN summit on deadly diseases
Associate Professor Anushka Patel of the University of Sydney gives her views on the Summit and its outcomes.
Read more: Sydney Morning Herald, 22 Sep 2011
Non-communicable diseases come to the UN
Stephen Leeder from the Menzies Centre at the University of Sydney attended the Summit and reflects on the outcomes.
Read more: The Conversation, 22 Sep 2011
Controversy surrounds UN health summit
Australia’s ABC has an excellent news report on the controversy surrounding the UN Summit about the role of industry in negotiations.
Watch the news report 19 Sep 2011
U.N. tackles non-communicable diseases, world’s leading killer
World leaders kicked off a historic two-day meeting at the United Nations on Monday by unanimously approving a “political declaration” meant to stem a rising tide of non-communicable diseases, now the world’s leading killer. The measure is expected to be adopted in full after a second day of discussion Tuesday. But it will then depend on cooperation from food, alcohol and tobacco companies.
Read more: CNN, 19 Sep 2011
Low-cost solutions to non-communicable disease – WHO study
A WHO study released ahead of the UN Summit reveals that low-income countries could introduce a core set of strategies to prevent and treat cancer, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease for just US$ 1.20 per person per year.
Read the report
Read more: World Health Organization news, 18 Sep 2011
Chronic disease to cost $47 trillion by 2030: WEF report
The global economic impact of the five leading chronic diseases — cancer, diabetes, mental illness, heart disease, and respiratory disease — could reach $47 trillion over the next 20 years, according to a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Read the report
Read more: Reuters, 19 Sep 2011
UN calls summit on spread of ‘lifestyle’ diseases
World leaders at a meeting of the United Nations on Monday will agree a deal to try to curb the spread of preventable “lifestyle” diseases, amid concern that progress is already being hampered by powerful lobbyists from the food, alcohol and tobacco industries.
Read more: The Guardian, 16 Sep 2011
Health groups warn business could hijack U.N. meeting
In a letter to The Lancet, a group of public health organisations said they were concerned about the impact of big business on public policy making. Industries selling fatty foods, alcohol and cigarettes could hijack a United Nations meeting on how to tackle chronic disease in order to protect their own interests.
Read the Lancet letter: Conflict of Interest and the UN Meeting on NCDs, The Lancet, 16 Sep 2011
Read more: Reuters, 16 Sep 2011
U.N. Summit Seeks to Tame ‘Non-Communicable Diseases’
Heart disease, cancer, lung disease and type 2 diabetes are all non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and are now the leading cause of death worldwide. They are also largely preventable, experts say. That’s why health experts and leaders from 193 nations plan to meet next week at the United Nations in New York City to discuss strategies to lower the death toll
Read more: US News and World Report, 16 Sep 2011
World leaders must take binding steps to curb unhealthy food industry – UN expert
A United Nations human rights expert today called for taxing unhealthy food, regulating harmful marketing practices and standing up to the food industry, urging world leaders not to miss the chance at a summit next week to end a state of affairs that kills nearly 3 million adults each year.
Read more, UN News Centre, 16 Sep 2011
Nestle and Glaxo lobby UN over biggest epidemic battle since AIDs
Officials from big international companies such as Nestle and GlaxoSmithKline are joining political leaders and health groups at the UN Summit. There’s a lot at stake:
On the table are proposals to fight obesity, cut tobacco and alcohol use and expand access to lifesaving drugs in an effort to tackle unhealthy diets and lifestyles that drive three of every five deaths worldwide. At stake for the makers of snacks, drinks, cigarettes and drugs is a market with combined sales of more than $2 trillion worldwide last year.
“I am not averse to them lobbying,” Robert Beaglehole, chairman of New Zealand’s Smokefree Coalition and a former director of the WHO Department of Chronic Disease and Health Promotion in Geneva, reportedly said. “I am averse to governments taking them seriously.”
Read more: Bloomberg, 16 Sep 2011
After Some Haggling, Negotiators for U.N. Summit Reach Tentative Agreement
Science Mag reports on negotiations:
After a summer of negotiations whose slow pace and political gaming has drawn the ire of numerous health advocacy organisations, representatives of U.N. member states appear to have come to a compromise on a political declaration document for the 19 September U.N. high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
A leaked, heavily annotated 5 August draft suggests that negotiations stalled partly because of the influence of food, tobacco, and drug industries, according to editors at the British Medical Journal who saw the draft, and partly because the global economic crisis leaves nations “allergic to agreeing to anything that looks like [committing] new resources.”
Reference: Will industry influence derail UN summit? BMJ, 23 Aug 2011
Read more: Science Mag, 7 Sep 2011
Public health policy at the mercy of corporate greed
Professor Boyd Swinburn from Deakin University in Australia has an excellent opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald on how the commitments that might flow from the Summit are being watered down. He says:
The rich countries, particularly the US and European Union but also Australia, Canada and New Zealand, are active accomplices in watering down the draft UN statements.
A statement with commitments to tangible outcomes has long been tossed aside and been replaced with a much weaker political statement with all targets and accountability mechanisms removed.
Read more: Sydney Morning Herald, 7 Sep 2011
UN Member States jeopardise progress on epidemic
FOE put out a media release when we found out some countries were weaking the Summit’s goals and timelines.
Read more: FOE media release, 4 Sep 2011
Europe, US accused of stalling UN disease talks
A global health group has accused the United States, Canada and Europe of harming efforts to fight cancer, diabetes, heart and other diseases because they will not agree to set United Nations targets. The main sticking point is money. According to Ann Keeling, chair of the NCD Alliance, a group of about 2,000 health organisations from around the world:
Rich nations fear they will have to foot much of the bill for tackling a chronic disease epidemic in poorer nations, and are reluctant to commit to this when their economies are in turmoil.
Read more: Reuters/Yahoo, 18 Aug 2011
NZ: Fighting a losing battle against obesity – interview with Robyn Toomath
Robyn Toomath, spokesperson for Fight the Obesity Epidemic (FOE), talks to the DomPost about her move to Auckland and her role in New Zealand’s anti-obesity movement.
Read more: DomPost/Stuff, 17 Sep 2011
NZ: Adult weight gain increases – survey
The latest Ministry of Health Ministry’s nutrition survey shows obesity rates have increased since the last survey in 1997. Nearly two thirds of adult New Zealanders are now obese or overweight.
‘A Focus on Nutrition‘ has the key findings of the 2008/09 adult New Zealand Nutrition Survey
Media coverage
Majority in NZ obese or overweight
New Zealanders have continued their relentless weight gain and 65 per cent of us are obese or overweight, according to a nutrition survey that has alarmed some public health experts. The NZ Herald reports on the survey and has comment from nutrition experts.
Read more: NZ Herald, 16 Sep 2011
Experts respond
Science Media Centre has a brief summary of the survey – including the good and bad news – followed by comments from leading experts in nutrition and public health.
Read more: Science Media Centre expert comment blog, 15 Sep 2011
‘Wrong foods’ blamed for fat increase
Results from the Health Ministry’s 2008-09 nutrition survey show obesity rates have increased since the last survey in 1997.
Read more: Dominion Post/Stuff, 16 Sep 2011
Quarter of New Zealanders obese
New health findings show New Zealand obesity rates have increased, with more than a quarter of the country now obese, up from about a fifth 12 years ago.
Read more: Radio NZ news, 15 Sep 2011
Listen to an interview with Professor Jim Mann on Checkpoint
Obesity News 150
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
It has links to the following stories – and many others:
- An excellent video from Otago University on obesity prevention
- A special obesity series in the Lancet
- The UN summit on non-communicable diseases in New York, 19-20 September
Read the 14 September 2011 issue.
A special supplement of Obesity News has links to stories about the UN Summit on non-communicable diseases
WHO maps noncommunicable disease trends in all countries
A new World Health Organization report has information about noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, diabetes, cancers or respiratory disease in 193 countries. They are the top cause of death worldwide, killing more than 36 million people in 2008.
Adults in poorer countries are around three times more likely to die of NCDs before the age of sixty than in high-income countries.
The report also shows:
- what proportion of each country’s deaths are due these diseases
- what each country is doing to tackle NCDs
- what countries need to do to prevent and tackle NCDs
Read the WHO press release, 14 Sep 2011
Read the WHO global report Noncommunicable diseases country profiles 2011
Read the New Zealand section of the WHO global report (PDF)
US: Attacking the obesity epidemic by first figuring out its cause
The New York Times has an excellent article on the causes of the obesity epidemic and what is needed to turn it around. The writer, Jane Brody, says the answer lies in understanding what caused the epidemic in the first place. She begins:
If you have gained a lot of unwanted pounds at any time during the last 30-odd years, you may be relieved to know that you are probably not to blame. At least not entirely.
Many environmental forces, from economic interests of the food and beverage industries to the way our cities and towns are built, have conspired to subvert the body’s natural ability to match calories in with calories out.
Brody writes about the differences between growing up now, and when she did – in the 1940s and 50s. (Walking or biking to the shops for icecream, no TV junk food ads, playing outside till dark, eating home-prepared meals, not living in car-dependent suburbs, few labour saving devices …)
She uses conclusions from a team of experts, including Professor Boyd Swinburn of Australia’s Deakin University, who examined obesity-promoting forces globally and published their findings recently in a Lancet series on obesity.
They say weight stayed stable until the 1970s. That’s when many women entered the workforce and many tasty convenience foods became available. Swinburn calls this “the tipping point”
The Lancet authors say we need complementary, co-ordinated policies to address the obesity epidemic and that the UN and national governments should take the lead.
Read the Lancet series on obesity, 26 Aug 2011
Read the New York Times article on the causes of obesity, 12 Sep 2011
Australia: Public health policy at the mercy of corporate greed
On 19-20 September, the UN General Assembly will hold a high level meeting on non-communicable diseases.
Professor Boyd Swinburn explains how the commitments that might flow from the meeting are being watered down.
He says rich countries, including Australia and New Zealand are joining forces with tobacco, food, alcohol and pharmaceutical corporations to water down draft UN statements.
For instance, an earlier draft had a clause to discourage the production and marketing of unhealthy food. However, with the help of Australia, Canada and US, that clause is now destined to be excised from the final document.
Read the opinion piece by Professor Boyd Swinburn in SMH, 7 Sep 2011
UN Member States jeopardise progress on epidemic
Media Release
FOE (Fight the Obesity Epidemic)
4 September 2011
UN Member States jeopardise international progress on non-communicable disease epidemic
Wellington – The fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory disease, is at grave risk, because of recent efforts by some countries to stall and weaken critical United Nations negotiations FOE (Fight the Obesity Epidemic) warned today.
“The situation is urgent,” said Dr Robyn Toomath, spokesperson for FOE. “Sound proposals for clear goals and timelines to tackle these devastating diseases are being systematically deleted, diluted and downgraded by some member states. Urgent action is needed now to put the negotiations back on track.”
NCDs are the leading cause of death worldwide each year, causing 36 million deaths in 2008 and accounting for 63 per cent of all global deaths. Over the next 20 years, the NCD epidemic is projected to accelerate exponentially, putting enormous strain on families, health systems and economies.
New Zealand is a world leader in obesity prevalence (3rd according to recent estimates) with the consequent problems of type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease and so forth that follows on from this.
Public Health experts have pushed for the UN summit knowing that the NCD epidemic could be effectively addressed through the reduction of risk factors – principally tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol – and early detection and timely treatments.
“We have a unique and historic opportunity to change the course of this ticking time bomb and stop millions of people around the world suffering unnecessary pain and hardship”, said Robyn Toomath. “To do that, we need governments, including our own, to agree and act on a common goal.”
FOE together with other organisations in the NCD Alliance is calling on the High Level Meeting to agree:
• An overarching goal to reduce preventable deaths from NCDs by 25% by 2025
• A clear timeline for tackling the epidemic of the four major NCDs – cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease
• A set of specific, evidence-based targets and global indicators
• A high-level collaborative initiative of governments and UN agencies with civil society to stimulate and assess progress.
Ends
UK: Jamie Oliver calls for global action to tackle obesity
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has joined health experts in wanting the UN to discuss rising world obesity levels at their summit later this month:
“Obesity needs to be on every government agenda. It should be as important as the fight against Aids and climate change. It has to become the national health priority.”
He is encouraging heads of state and the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, to “sit up and take notice” at a summit on non-communicable disease in New York on 19 and 20 September.
The Guardian’s article has a mock-up photo of a very plump Jamie Oliver eating fries.
Read more: The Guardian, 4 Sep 2011
NZ: Shoppers bamboozled by food labels
Shoppers baffled by food labels
Nearly two-thirds of New Zealanders are bamboozled by food labelling and feel producers should make product ingredients clearer, according to the NZ Herald. Over half the people interviewed in an Impact PR survey found food labels difficult to understand.
The NZ Herald reports on this study then follows up with a survey of shoppers at an Auckland supermarket. It found “people’s grocery trips were complicated by the need to decipher labels on goods.” One shopper said she spent most of her time at the supermarket pouring over labels.
A traffic light labelling system similar to one used in the United Kingdom would make it easier for shoppers to make healthy choices quickly.
Read more about baffling food labels: NZ Herald, 1 Sep 2011
Find out why FOE thinks we need a traffic light food labelling system
Consumers unhappy with food labelling
A survey shows New Zealand consumers want more detail on food product labels, according to TVNZ. They say the research showed consumers were confused about what the labels actually revealed, with 58% saying that food labels were hard to understand.
Read more about the consumer food labelling survey: TVNZ, 1 Sep 2011
World-wide action needed to reverse 40 years of rising obesity epidemic
Obesity has been on the rise for some 40 years and will continue to rise for 40 more if governments around the world do not take decisive, policy-driven action, according to Deakin University obesity experts.
Their paper was the first of a series published in The Lancet.
Read more: News, Deakin University, 26 Aug 2011
NZ: New video highlights how to tackle New Zealand’s growing obesity epidemic
Congratulations to Professor Jim Mann and Otago University for putting together an excellent video on how to tackle New Zealand’s growing obesity epidemic.
Obesity seems to be getting less press lately and there has been very little discussion on the need to prevent it in the first place. Otago University’s new video is very timely. It gives a very good summary of the need for prevention and the kinds of things that will and won’t make a difference.
Watch the video on YouTube (14 minutes)
Read the University of Otago press release (Researchers’ video urges all NZers to act on obesity, 18 August 2011)
Obesity News 149
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
Read the 18 August issue.
It has links to these stories – and many others:
- Parents Voice – a website for New Zealanders who want to improve children’s food and physical environments
- September’s UN summit on non-communicable diseases in New York
- A letter in the NZ Medical Journal about tackling type 2 diabetes.
NZ: Doctors and public health researchers say shocking diabetes rates can be reduced – NZMJ letter
“New Zealand’s shocking diabetes rates can be reduced – nine urgently needed actions” is the title of a letter to the editor in today’s New Zealand Medical Journal. It’s about tackling our shockingly high rates of type 2 diabetes and is signed by leading health professionals.
Read the NZ Medical Journal letter (Republished with permission from NZMJ.)
The University of Otago, Wellington, put out the following media statement to go with the letter:
Thursday 11 August 2011
Doctors and public health researchers say shocking diabetes rates can be reduced
Leading medical specialists, public health researchers and nutritionists warn that not enough is being done to prevent the rapidly increasing diabetes rates, largely caused by significant increases in obesity in adults and children in recent years.
Between 1989 and 1997 the average weight gain in adults was 3.2 kg, and the results of the latest Adult Nutrition Survey to be released in September are likely to show that trend is continuing.
The warning comes in an open letter to the New Zealand Medical Journal, which criticises the cutting of healthy eating and obesity prevention programmes by the Government.
It points to the axing of the National Healthy Eating Health Action Strategy, Mission On, and the requirement for schools to provide healthy food amongst others.
The 12 signatories say diabetes is now a huge health equity issue as it impacts disproportionately on Māori and Pacific and low-income New Zealanders. It is also a major factor in the multi-million dollar cost of kidney dialysis, with 40-48% of those on dialysis because of diabetes-related kidney failure.
“Obesity accounts for more than 80% of preventable diabetes in New Zealand and is not being vigorously addressed, in fact many preventive programmes have been cut,” says public health researcher Associate Professor Louise Signal from the University of Otago, Wellington.
“We have alarmingly high rates of diabetes, they’re getting worse, and we compare very poorly with other OECD countries according to the June edition of the British journal the Lancet. Health professionals have been warning about this incipient health crisis for years.”
They say that 63% of adults are now either overweight or obese with this trend continuing. “The worrying thing is that even now 2%-7% of the health budget ($12.6 billion) is linked to people being overweight or obese. Obesity-related diabetes is costing us hundreds of millions a year and rising,” says Signal.
The letter identifies nine urgent preventive actions that should be taken:
- Implement a national nutrition and physical activity strategy as recommended by the WHO
- Reinstate the requirement for schools to sell only healthy food.
- Introduce a simple front-of-pack ‘traffic light’ nutritional labelling programme which shows how healthy the product is as recommended in the Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy report (2011).
- Make sure people on low incomes have enough money for a healthy diet.
- Continue to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour; e.g reinstate the recently cut Push Play programme.
- Extend the healthy nutrition marketing programmes from the Health Sponsorship Council to include physical activity.
- Ban the marketing of junk food to children, including the self-regulatory and ineffective system governing junk food advertising.
- Increase regulation of the food and beverage industry to encourage healthy eating.
- Reduce health inequities, particularly in relation to child health.
Associate Professor Louise Signal, Professor Jim Mann, Professor Murray Skeaff, Associate Professor Rachel Taylor, University of Otago;
Dr Riz Firestone, Dr Matt Walton, Massey University;
Associate Professor Cliona Ni Mhurchu, Professor Ross Lawrenson, Dr Rinki Murphy, University of Auckland;
Professor Grant Schofield, Auckland University of Technology,
Professor Norman Sharpe, National Heart Foundation;
Dr Robyn Toomath, Wellington Hospital
For further information contact:
Associate Professor Louise Signal
Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit
University of Otago, Wellington
Tel: 04 385 5541 ext 6477
Mob: 021 032 4720
Australia: Parents endorse mandatory traffic light labelling
A poll undertaken by Australian group, The Parents’ Jury, shows overwhelming support for the introduction of traffic light labelling on food. Almost 90% of respondents supported its mandatory introduction.
Read more: Parents Jury, 8 Aug 2011
NZ: Eat healthy for the good of the planet
Nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton says the key to reducing rising obesity levels may be to get people to eat healthy because it’s good for the planet. Although people generally agree there is a need for changes in diet, education isn’t working because the powerful food and beverage industries continue to convince people to buy their products. Dr Stanton told a conference:
We need to stop thinking of ourselves as ‘consumers’ – passive creatures who use up resources and do the bidding of marketers, and think of ourselves as ‘citizens’ – responsible participants who think of the future and the collective good.
Junk foods have a big carbon footprint and a major environmental impact, as does the huge amount of wasted fresh food. We have to find ways to reduce this, she says.
Dr Stanton wants to promote foods that are good for the health of the planet because they are also the foods that are recommended for good health. She says this approach needs to be backed up by governments applying appropriate taxes to junk food that reflect the true cost of the product, including its carbon footprint.
A so called ‘fat tax’ on junk food annoys people, but a tax on a food because it wastes resources that are needed for our children and grandchildren may get a different response.
She was speaking at the Agencies for Nutrition Action national conference in Auckland.
Read more: Press release, ANA/Scoop, 3 May 2011
Read Rosemary Stanton’s presentation to the ANA conference (PDF)
Updated 23 May 2011
Australia: Tasmanian government to investigate junk food advertising
The Tasmanian minister for Consumer Affairs has asked for an options paper on regulating junk food advertising in the state. This follows the release of the Obesity Policy Coalition’s blueprint ‘Protecting Children from Unhealthy Food Advertising and Promotion’.
He is also checking whether there are any barriers to the state having the powers to regulate the broadcasting industry.
Read the Tasmanian Government media release, 10 May 2011
Big tick for junk food plan
The Australian Heart Foundation is backing the move to regulate junk food advertising in Tasmania.
Read more: ABC, 11 May 2011
Obesity News 148
Obesity News is FOE’s regular round-up of obesity-prevention news from around the world.
Read the 11 May issue
It has links to these stories – and many others:
- Some speakers at Agencies for Nutrition Action’s conference in Auckland got considerable media coverage.
- In Australia, the Obesity Policy Coalition has just released a blueprint to restrict junk food advertising.
US: The truth about advertising junk food to children – it works
A US study shows a link between children’s exposure to food advertising on television and the consumption of unhealthy food, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages and fast food.
Read more about the study Health News Digest, 9 May 2011