Health in New Zealand: Obesity and its Impact

Running head: HEALTH IN NEW ZEALAND 1
Health in New Zealand
Obesity
Introduction
Name
Institutional Affiliation(S).
Date
12/April/2019

HEALTH IN NEW ZEALAND 2
Health in New Zealand
Obesity
Introduction
The ministry of health survey taken in 2016/2017 came to a conclusion that about 35% of
individuals aged 15 and above had a body mass index (BMI) exceeding 26 and 30 with an
addition of approximately 1.6 million people being obese with a BMI more than 30. Therefore
obesity is a medical disorder where excess body fat has accumulated to the degree that it hurts
health. In the previous year obesity in New Zealand was a major concern when the rate of adult
obesity elevated from 27 percent in 2006/2007 to 32 percent in 2017/2018 while that of children
escalated from 8 percent to 12 percent in the same period. Essentially, obesity is more
pronounced in a female between the age of 5 and 35. The purpose of this follow up report is to
address how education and income stand linked to obesity and the measures the New Zealand
government has put in place to tackle obesity and determine the actions taken in response to the
previous findings.
Research questions
1. What is the primary health effect on childhood obesity to the future expected life?
Obesity at the affecting the young people has a future complication typically to the
affected individuals. They are problems that can be possible to avoid, and what are they?
2. How can New Zealand government counterweight issues?
The government needs to implement policies that do not favor the pride of being
overweight. However, the government cannot work alone but with the ultimate help of school
teachers, and parents.
3. Are there better healthy eating options available for both children and adults?
The society and personally in personal view should stop by all means of feeding their
children with junk food that are high in sugar and calories. However, can the idea be applied to
other healthy eating options? Obesity strong correlation with socioeconomic status and physical
activity, in addition to nutrition.
4. How can parents encourage their children to engage in physical activities instead
of just playing video games?

HEALTH IN NEW ZEALAND 3
In the 21 century children play a lot of indoor games giving them no time to go outside
and engage in physical activities, hence making it the major contributor towards gaining excess
weight. Therefore parents and the government in conjunction need to find other ways to entertain
their children.
5. What is the best way to stop obesity in New Zealand? (especially the youth)
The youth are believed to be the future leaders of any society, sound cliché but true to the
idea, the youth who are ever energetic and fast should be assisted in helping reduce their
consumption of unhealthy food. There it can be done through proper education on health factors
and speculative positions they could be holding in the future.
Research process
The research problem has its focus on childhood obesity the measures the New Zealand
government has put in place to tackle obesity and determine the actions taken in response to the
previous findings. The New Zealand government should identify specific areas within the
country and the healthy population to formulate the best ways to kill obesity and its related
disadvantages (Bergès & Lézine, 2016). The research process will follow a systematic process of
asking questions, planning the event, gathering information from libraries and other online
sources, analysis, and evaluation of the results.
In carrying out the research process, it turned out using the following research techniques
and tools was realistic and efficient (Bray, 2014). The Qualitative research method whereby,
employing the technique, generally it helps to understand the attitudes, opinions, feelings and
natural behavior of people, nevertheless, much information on obesity came about from the
government website, the world health organization (WHO) insight and the personal questioning
of health official in the ministry of health and public health.
Search terms used
 Childhood obesity – is the condition whereby the excess fat accumulation in the body
affects a child's health.
 School-based obesity prevention. – These include both physical and nutrition lessons
with the focus on the prevention of obesity.
 Childcare/daycare centers – these are institutions formed to monitor the eating behaviors
of children strictly and teach them on proper eating habits.