Obesity threatens to 'collapse' public health care system
The New Zealand Parliament's health committee announced yesterday that
it will hold an inquiry into obesity, saying the country was in the
grip of an epidemic which threatens to collapse the public health
system.
"Obesity is arguably the most serious public health crisis confronting
New Zealand," said Sue Kedgley, a Green Party politician who chairs the
committee, citing surveys indicating that 1.5 million of New Zealand's
4.2 million people are overweight.
"Everyone recognises that if we don't cure the obesity epidemic, it
will overwhelm our health system," she said.
Official figures say that one-third of New Zealand children aged 5 to
14 are either overweight or obese and 1-in-5 adults are medically
defined as obese.
Kedgley said obesity was linked to a range of conditions, including
type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes and some cancers.
"Unless we address the problems of obesity and diabetes they are going
to put huge strains on our health budget and the number of New
Zealanders requiring hospitalisation will increase."
Kedgley said New Zealand children were growing up in an environment
that encouraged them to eat high-sugar, high-fat foods and drinks known
to contribute to obesity and poor health.
"If we are serious about reducing the risks of obesity we have to find
ways of reducing the overwhelming pressure on children to eat unhealthy
food," she said.
The committee is inviting members of the public, health experts and
food industry representatives to make submissions which are expected to
include calls for a special tax on fatty foods and restrictions on
advertising.
Medicare to cover obesity surgery: Obese elderly or disabled patients
are now eligible for a variety of surgical weight-loss procedures under
the US Medicare health insurance plan, US Government officials said on
Tuesday (local time).
Patients must have tried but failed with other weight loss options,
have at least one weight-related medical problem and have a high body
mass index, the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.
Previously, Medicare patients could only receive gastric bypass
surgery, in which the lower part of the stomach is either closed off or
removed and its contents detoured around the large intestine directly
to the small intestine