A wake up call for NZ:

A recent national health survey shows nearly one in three of the population are overweight.

The small island nation is now in the top three fattest countries behind the US and Mexico, where 36.5% and 32% respectively of the population are obese. New Zealand’s rate is just below 29%.

Figures show one in 10 children between two and 14 years – 79,000 children – qualify for that description.

Rates of obesity are highest in the 45-65 age group and the figures among New Zealand’s Maori and Pasifika population peaked at 46% and 67% respectively.

The survey says excess weight is a leading cause of a number of health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer.

The news has shocked the nation and has led to health professionals calling for increased government regulation of the food and drinks industry and increased spending.

A New Zealand Medical Association report calls the soaring obesity rates a “public health crisis”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/f ... -the-world

Must be the fush and chups...

I wonder how many and which countries were in the survey. Last year I spent a few weeks in Malaysia, and I was surprised at how many very overweight females I saw there. They don't seem to worry about being overweight as they just cover it over with their ''tent like '' Muslim clothing. Malaysia is one of the countries that produces vast quantities of palm oil and they eat lots of food that is cooked in this oil . I suspect this is the reason.

Duncan wrote:I wonder how many and which countries were in the survey. Last year I spent a few weeks in Malaysia, and I was surprised at how many very overweight females I saw there. They don't seem to worry about being overweight as they just cover it over with their ''tent like '' Muslim clothing. Malaysia is one of the countries that produces vast quantities of palm oil and they eat lots of food that is cooked in this oil . I suspect this is the reason.

Seems probable that developed countries would have more statistics available so it's easier to chart obesity. Also most developing countries probably have enough undernourished skinny people to offset the increasing obesity of their middle classes.

In Cambodia you see fat kids in the cities, but hardly at all in the countryside. That said, a Khmer friend of mine who grew up poor and skinny in the countryside now has problems with his weight - he has moved to town and become "well off" - another friend has gout now that he lives in PP. Here it seems that increased income encourages obesity.

In NZ, it's the less well off who suffer from obesity. I was there recently and the problem seems to be with junk foods and sodas. I was also amazed at the high prices of fresh fruit and vegetables, a lot of them locally grown and it's the middle of summer there right now. If you live in a city there it is easier to eat crap than fresh food. Fish is a luxury in an island nation. Completely crazy.

The Chinese are getting pretty good at obesity too, they really don't carry weight well.

Anchor Moy wrote:..In NZ, it's the less well off who suffer from obesity. I was there recently and the problem seems to be with junk foods and sodas. I was also amazed at the high prices of fresh fruit and vegetables, a lot of them locally grown and it's the middle of summer there right now. If you live in a city there it is easier to eat crap than fresh food. Fish is a luxury in an island nation. Completely crazy.

Agree, the cost of food is indeed high and the fast food trip has cultivated the lazy eater with its convenience. However the BMI method used to calculate 'obesity' needs to be improved or done away with all together.

I'm more in favour of the Waist to height ratio

It used to be said that the rising rates of obesity in developing countries was due to the changes from a traditional diet to western foods; Now it seems to affect everybody because of the globalization of junk food, the rise in urban poverty and the higher prices of good healthy food. The Polynesian and Maori population of New Zealand are proportionally the hardest hit by obesity due to a combination of all these factors.

Junk food is the scourge of the planet.

These surveys often leave out smaller nations. The Pacific Rim nations are some of the fattest on the planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_the_Pacific