A study on worldwide trends in underweight and obesity, just published in The Lancet medical journal showed that the highest rates of obesity for women were in Tonga and American Samoa, and Nauru and American Samoa for men.

The report, spanning 1990 and 2022, found the rate of obesity quadrupled among children and adolescents.

Sir Collin Tukuitonga — who is associate professor, associate dean Pacific and a research director at Auckland University’s medical school — said the results for children were especially concerning.

“The local data here will show that two-thirds of young Pacific girls are obese, overweight. There’s increasing trends in childhood obesity.

Sir Collin said obesity was a longstanding fight for Pacific nations.

“The problem of course is that it’s so difficult to tackle, and it’s all to do with our food systems, how people are not as active as they used to be.”

Zero hunger goal
Zero Hunger is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which deems both obesity and being underweight as forms of malnutrition.

“There is a need throughout the world for social and agricultural policies and food programmes that address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the rise in obesity by enhancing access to healthy and nutritious foods,” it said.

The Lancet report said there was an urgent need for major changes in how obesity is tackled.

Obesity can increase the risk of developing many serious health conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

South Auckland’s poor turnout for the 2018 Aotearoa New Zealand national census could have cost the region $130 million in health funding.

And, according to an expert, that cash could have helped tackle the area’s battles with diabetes and obesity.

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand said the defunct Counties Manukau District Health Board lost $130m in health funding in its last four years due to the low turnout in the area during the 2018 census.

Information from the five-yearly stocktake helps determine how billions of dollars in government spending is allocated across health, education, transport, infrastructure and other services.

Counties Manukau has more people with diabetes than any other health region in the country.

Te Whatu Ora (Counties Manukau) Director of Population Health Gary Jackson said additional money would help fund programmes to battle two issues affecting many people in the region.

He said there were 52,000 diabetics in Counties Manukau and that figure was growing by 2000 people a year. It is also home to 19 percent of all New Zealanders in the most extreme BMI group.

Only 71 percent response
Figures released by Stats NZ this week show only 71 percent of people in South Auckland have so far completed the census in 2023, compared to 83 percent nationwide.

Te Whatu Ora Chief Financial Officer Rosalie Percival said getting people to provide their details was vital to ensure areas like Counties Manukau got the healthcare services they needed.

“Health providers know about the people who turn up at their door needing care — but they have no other way of knowing about the presence of people who haven’t recently needed to use the health system,” she said.

“The data gained from the census helps to inform important decisions about planning for the needs of local areas and subsequently healthcare spending.”

However, Buttabean Motivation (BBM) founder Dave Letele said getting people to complete the census was not easy.

Letele, who is potentially standing for Te Pāti Māori this year, was an ambassador for Census 2023 and was involved in a social media campaign which kicked off late last year to get more people to take part.

“There’s a massive distrust between our people and the government and that’s what we need to overcome,” Letele said.

Wary about personal information
He said as a result a lot of people were wary about sharing their personal information with authorities.

“But it’s not just something you can throw money at to fix it.”

Deputy Government Statistician and deputy chief executive for census and collection operations Simon Mason confirmed the turnout at the last census in 2018 was poor in Counties Manukau.

“That is why it is critically important that people complete the census — so their communities are counted . . .”

Mason said the 2023 event was designed to address barriers to participation, including having more collectors and alternate formats for people to complete it and support a wider range of people.

A spokesperson for Stats NZ said it would still have field teams collecting people’s responses until May 3 and will be running census support events until June 4.

Pacific Media Watch reports that the Counties Manukau health population is ethnically diverse with the largest Pacific population and second largest Māori popukation of any New Zealand health board.

In the 2018 census, 16 percent of the population served by CM Health identified as Māori, 22 percent as Pacific, 28 percent as Asian and 34 percent as NZ European/other groups.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. It is published by Asia Pacific Report in collaboration.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

National Party leader Judith Collins has described obesity as a weakness and says people should not “blame systems for personal choices”.

She was asked about her view on obesity during a radio interview yesterday and was today asked about that by media on the New Zealand election campaign trail.

Collins said people who were obese needed to take some personal responsibility.

READ MORE: Other Asia Pacific Report election stories

When told that some had called her comments heartless, Collins said: “Do you know what is heartless? Is actually thinking someone else can cure these issues. We can all take personal responsibility and we all have to own up to our little weaknesses on these matters.

“Do not blame systems for personal choices.”

Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that one in three New Zealanders over the age of 15 are obese.

Those living in areas of socio-economic deprivation are also more likely to be obese than those living in the least deprived areas.

Obesity prevalence by ethnicity
In addition, the statistics show the prevalence of obesity among adults differs by ethnicity, with 67 percent of Pacific, 48 percent of Māori, 29 percent of European/other and 14 percent of Asian adults obese.

About one in nine children aged two to 14 years old are obese.

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern was also asked about obesity today.

“I think on an issue like this, people are, we are all, products of our environment. You can’t deny that and so we do have to look at all the multiple factors that contribute to obesity issues in New Zealand.

“I think if you are so simplistic simply to call it an issue of personal responsibility, then it’s never going to be an issue that we collectively resolve.”

She thought it demonstrated that “under National we won’t see any progress on the issue”.

“If it’s just a view that they’ve got no role to play and that there’s no difference that government can make on these issues, then it does tell you that on one of the most significant health issues we have you’ll see nothing from the opposition on it.”

Peters on ‘tsunami of obesity’
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters was asked about the issue as well.

“There’s a tsunami of obesity problems coming down our track, it’s a critical matter and our health system faces a nightmare unless we get going right here and right now to do something about it.”

Asked if it was a matter of personal responsibility or external factors, he said: “It’s a combination – frequently it’s external factors, frequently it’s some people sadly [have] got two or three jobs – their chances of actually stopping to … follow good dining practices is not affordable. They are flat out with takeaway meals and what have you.

“We can all condemn them and say what we like but the reality is, they’ll have sadly truncated lives and many illnesses which are avoidable and I’d like to think that this country has a seriously practical dialogue about it rather than just condemning people.”

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

ANALYSIS: By Dr Crosbie Walsh

Nauru hosts the Pacific Islands Forum — whose membership includes Australia, New Zealand and 16 Pacific Islands nations — from today until Wednesday when lofty ideas may help soften present realities.

The island, 56km south of the Equator and thousands of kilometres from anywhere else, is 21 km in size and its population is 11,000, 40 percent of whom have type 2 diabetes, 90 percent are unemployed and 94 percent obese – the highest rate in the world.

The island’s recent history is one of rags to riches and rags again.

READ MORE: Nauru faces media, security pressure ahead of Pacific Islands Forum

For most of the past century millions of tonnes of phosphate from bird droppings were mined and exported as fertiliser to Australia and New Zealand, leaving much of the area barren.

In 1970, the British Phosphate Commission handed over control to the Nauru government. Mining increased, briefly making Nauru the second most wealthy nation on earth based on GDP per capita, second only to the United Arab Emirates.

-Partners-

Most of the phosphate was extracted through strip mining which leaves the earth largely barren, infertile, and unable to sustain plant life.

Currently, about 90 percent of the island is covered in jagged and exposed heaps of petrified coral, which is unsuitable for both building and agriculture. Additionally, runoff from mining sites has left the water in and around Nauru severely contaminated.

About 90 percent of Nauru is covered in jagged and exposed heaps of petrified coral … unsuitable for both building and agriculture. Image: CWB

Marine pollution
Researchers estimate that approximately 40 percent of the marine life has been lost due to this pollution. Additionally, the only remaining phosphate on the island would not produce a profit if mined.

In 1989, Nauru took Australia to the International Court of Justice over its actions during its administration of Nauru, and particularly its failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining.

An out-of-court settlement rehabilitated some of the mined-out areas. By 2000 no marketable phosphate remained.

An out-of-court settlement rehabilitated some of the mined-out areas on Nauru. By 2000 no marketable phosphate remained. Image: CWB

In 1993, the government won a legal case against Australia for its mismanagement. The reparations have been used for restoration projects, one of which is a detention centre for more than 1000 refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

Some have called Nauru an Australian “client state.”

Since then, the political and economic situation has worsened. The phosphate trust fund was mismanaged (thanks largely to the influence of a modern beachcomber) and most of its assets lost.

Corruption is reported as rampant. Searching desperately for an income, government
briefly facilitated and condoned money laundering, and now relies heavily on aid and income from the Australian refugee detention centre where conditions have been reported as “akin to torture”.

Disturbing report
This BBC report on the effects on refugee children is especially disturbing.

Both governments have kept the injustices perpetrated against these refugees quiet by limiting access to the island.

A media visa costs $8000, taking pictures inside the detention centre is forbidden; so is carrying a smart phone with a camera.

In 2015, Australia passed the Australian Border Force Act, which makes speaking out about the conditions inside its camps on Nauru, and Manus in PNG, punishable by a two-year prison sentence.

It will be interesting to see how both governments, and other members of the Pacific Islands Forum, including New Zealand that benefited greatly from Nauru phosphates, handle questions over the next two days — and whether the NGOs present ask the right ones.

Dr Croz Walsh is a retired development studies professor at the University of the South Pacific. In his blog, he comments on New Zealand, Fiji, and Pacific Islands issues of political and social interest.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz