Tobacco control and obesity prevention experts met in Wellington to discuss how to reduce New Zealand’s high rates of obesity. They focused on lessons learned from successes in tobacco control to help make healthy food the norm.
You can download four of the presentations to the Fags and Fat seminar:
Professor Boyd Swinburn’s presentation (PDF 1.16MB)
Professor Robert Beaglehole’s presentation (PDF 126 KB)
Professor Janet Hoek’s presentation (PDF 828 KB)
Jane Martin’s presentation (PDF 870 KB)
Read more: Press release, Cancer Society, 6 Dec 2009
Fags and Fat
Jane Martin of Australia’s Obesity Policy Coalition was one of the guest speakers at the seminar on changing policy to fight the obesity epidemic.
She talked on the Breakfast Show about how comprehensive approaches have worked in tobacco control and how they could be used to tackle obesity. “We need to make sure we are really pressing all the levers that we can to support healthy eating and make healthy and healthy lifestyles the easy choices.”
Watch the replay: Breakfast, TVNZ, 7 Dec 2009 (4 mins)
Government policy backtracking threatens public health
“Public health experts in Wellington yesterday slated the National Government for recent downgrades to Healthy Eating, Healthy Action and school healthy food guidelines, painting a David-and-Goliath picture of the campaign to fight obesity.”
Read more: NZ Doctor, 8 Dec 2009
Food companies’ tactics ‘as bad as tobacco firms’
Professor Boyd Swinburn told the Dominion Post that food companies were using the same tactics as tobacco companies once did to sell their products and undermine attempts to restrict their trade. They should therefore be treated the same way.
His ‘top-five’ wish list includes banning junk food marketing to children and teens.
Read more: Dominion Post, 9 Dec 2009
Other media coverage
Seminar aims to make healthy food the norm, TV3, 6 Dec 2009
Watch the TV3 news item replay, TV3 6 Dec 2009
Tax on fatty food and sugary drinks urged, RadioNZ, 7 Dec 2009