Childhood Obesity in New Zealand

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Childhood obesity is a growing problem not only in New Zealand but worldwide. This is due to many factors and has many effects on society. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30. BMI is a measure of your weight divided by your height, the normal range is considered to be from 18 to 25 and over 30 is said to be obese. BMI became an international standard for obesity measurement in the 1980s (S.Wilson, 2000). Obesity is not just a modern day problem, Ancient Egyptians are said to consider obesity as a disease, having been drawn in a wall of depicted illnesses. Perhaps the most famous and earliest evidence of obesity is the Venus figurines, statuettes of an obese female torso that probably had a major role in rituals. Ancient China has also been aware of obesity and the dangers that come with it. They have always been a believer of prevention as a key to longevity (L.Dobbins, Dec 2007). Obesity is considered to be a problem because it is a risk factor for many chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes. The New Zealand health strategy has two objectives that relate directly to obesity, to improve nutrition and to increase physical activity (Reuters, Feb. 15 2008). Experts and the media are feeding us with information on this ‘,obesity epidemic’, but is there actually a problem? An epidemic is the occurrence of more cases of a disease than would be expected in a community or region during a given time period. According to New Zealand Herald 95% of parents considered the number of overweight and obese children to be a significant problem. In other words there is sufficient evidence to say we do have an obesity epidemic on our hands.

Our children are among the fattest in the world. The national children...

... middle of paper ...

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Macpherson and Edward R. Silverman’,. Retrieved on March 5, 2008,

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Newman, (2004). ‘,Why Are We So Fat?’, National Geographic, August 2004, (2004).

Nzherald, (February 18th, 2008)

Wikipedia, (2008). Retrieved on March 7,2008,

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_obesity

Effects of obesity, (2005). Retrieved on February 29, 2008,

From http://www.linkroll.com/obesity-help/the-effects-of-obesity-on-society-as-a-whole.php

Ashworth, S. (1997). ‘,FAT’,, Sherry Ashworth, 1997, Scholastic

NZ Food, NZ Children Findings of the 2002 National Children's Nutrition Survey

Date of publication: November 2003

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