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Monthly Archives: April 2016

Protecting children and young people from unethical junk food marketing: Upgrading the advertising codes

Thursday, April 28th, 2016 | Kate Sloane | No Comments

Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere, Alanna Soupen, University of Auckland

Figure 1: McDonald’s supporting junior football in New Zealand - http://stoppress.co.nz/news/world-cup-fever-hits-mcdonalds-release-new-menu-items

Figure 1: McDonald’s supporting junior football in New Zealand – http://stoppress.co.nz/news/world-cup-fever-hits-mcdonalds-release-new-menu-items

This blog looks at five important ways that the Children’s Code for Advertising Food could be substantially improved to protect children and young people from obesity and poor oral health. Although public health experts would generally favour a regulatory approach (given the lack of evidence for an industry-controlled process and voluntary codes (1)), the current review of the voluntary Advertising Codes in NZ does present another opportunity for the food industry to show they do want to be part of the solution to reduce New Zealand’s unacceptably high rates of obesity in children and young people (2).

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Low-cost heart-healthy bread for NZ

Tuesday, April 26th, 2016 | Kate Sloane | 11 Comments

Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Nhung Nghiem, Dr Cristina Cleghorn, Dr Nisha Nair, Prof Tony Blakely

Figure 1: The loaf of the left is the optimised HHB$1.5 loaf. The loaf in the middle is the optimised HHB$3 loaf which is high in ground linseed. The loaf on the right is one that is high in walnut (but which was subsequently excluded from further study due to its relatively high cost at NZ$5). All loaves made in a home bread-making machine (Photography: Pascale Otis).

Figure 1: The loaf of the left is the optimised HHB$1.5 loaf. The loaf in the middle is the optimised HHB$3 loaf which is high in ground linseed. The loaf on the right is one that is high in walnut (but which was subsequently excluded from further study due to its relatively high cost at NZ$5). All loaves made in a home bread-making machine (Photography: Pascale Otis).

This blog reports on a study we just published on optimising the design of bread for heart health. Using linear programming we found it possible to design breads that are nutritionally superior to commercially available breads in 15 countries from a heart health perspective, as well as being lower cost. Such bread designs could be promoted by health agencies and utilised in conjunction with a government-funded bread voucher system for those at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
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(Un)licensed to kill: do we need to regulate how tobacco is sold?

Thursday, April 21st, 2016 | Kate Sloane | No Comments

Lindsay Robertson, Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards and Louise Marsh*

Tobacco retail blog - Northern Advocate

Example of a tobacco free retailer in Northland (Source: Northern Advocate)

Two recent articles by Aspire2025 researchers have explored how tobacco sales in New Zealand could be more effectively regulated. The first examines licensing models that have been implemented overseas, while the second explores how provisions from the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 could inform tobacco supply policies (both published in the NZ Medical Journal, 1 April 2016). This blog overviews the findings in both articles and explains how stronger tobacco supply policies would contribute to the Government’s smokefree 2025 goal.

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Perspective: Who is responsible for stopping NZ’s obesity epidemic?

Monday, April 18th, 2016 | Kate Sloane | 2 Comments

Dr Robyn Toomath

Fat Science blogEditorial note: In this blog-perspective, obesity expert Dr Robyn Toomath outlines the dogmas and arguments for the ‘individual-responsibility’ explanation and (lack of) solution to the obesity epidemic. She then points to the market failures that render (non-regulated) free-market solutions as doomed to fail. The views in this blog are expanded in greater depth in a book Dr Toomath is launching in Auckland and Wellington this month, Fat Science (Auckland University Press).

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An open letter to Cabinet Ministers from 74 health professors calling for a sugary drinks tax

Saturday, April 2nd, 2016 | TONY BLAKELY | 9 Comments

In this Public Health Expert blog, we reproduce a letter that appeared in the NZ Herald on 2 April 2016. Professors Boyd Swinburn, Rod Jackson, and Cliona Ni Mhurchu led the writing. 

Dear Cabinet Ministers,

We are very concerned by New Zealand’s appallingly high rate of childhood obesity, the fourth highest in the world. In addition, every year more than 5000 children under 8 years old require general anaesthetic operations to remove rotten teeth (1). We applaud the government for making childhood obesity a national health priority, however, its action plan of 22 ‘soft’ strategies, which was launched last year with no extra funding, is not sufficient to change current trends. We urge you to implement a significant tax on sugary drinks as a core component of strengthened strategies to reduce childhood obesity and dental caries.

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