Analysis of Obesity in New Zealand's Health System and Economics

This report addresses the critical public health issue of obesity in New Zealand, examining its prevalence and associated health risks. The report delves into the current situation, highlighting the high obesity rates and the factors contributing to this issue. It analyzes various government initiatives, such as the Wellbeing Budget 2019, and other strategies implemented across different sectors to promote healthy eating and increased physical activity. Furthermore, it applies the World Health Organization's health systems thinking approach, evaluating its building blocks and discussing its potential impact on addressing obesity. The report also explores the obstacles in applying this approach and offers evidence-based recommendations, such as focusing on specific geographical areas and involving local leaders, to improve its effectiveness in combating obesity. Finally, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the current situation, the initiatives in place, and the recommended changes for the future.

Running Head: HEALTH SYSTEMS AND ECONOMICS 1
Health System and Economics
Name of Student
Name of Institution
Date
Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Question 1....................................................................................................................................3
Question 2....................................................................................................................................4
Question 3....................................................................................................................................5
Question 4....................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

HEALTH SYSTEMS AND ECONOMICS 3
Health System and Economics
Executive summary
Obesity is a common problem in the world. Due to advances in technology, individuals are less
likely to engage in physical activity. The growth of the fast food industry has also encouraged
more individuals to eat junk food. Currently, nearly one third of individuals in the world are
overweight. The aim of this paper is to address the issue of obesity in New Zealand. The various
government initiatives will be analyzed and the systems thinking approach will be reviewed.
Recommendations will also be given on how to improve the issue
Introduction
The public health issue chosen is obesity. This is a condition that occurs when the
individual’s body mass index (BMI) is above 30 or is equivalent to 30. The body mass index is
measured by comparing the individual’s weight to their height. Excess weight is often linked to
several lath conditions such as cardiovascular issues, heart failure, cancer, diabetes, stroke, high
blood pressure, sleep apnea, and even osteoarthritis.
Main Body
Question 1
New Zealand currently has the highest rate of obesity in Australia. It is estimated that
every 1 in ten adults in New Zealand are obese, while every 1 in ten children in New Zealand is
obese. It is also estimated that adults who are living in areas that have reduced socio-economic
activity are more likely to be obese as compared to adults living in better socio-economic areas.
Lack of knowledge has also contributed significantly to the increase in the number of individuals

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with obesity. Children who are obese are likely to become obese in adulthood. According to
Chiavaroli, Gibbins, Cutfield, & Derraik (2019), obesity in children has more complex issues as
it results in physical and psychological problems. Most children who are obese have problems
with self-esteem, poor body satisfaction, depression, anxiety, among other mental health
illnesses (Leong, Derraik, Hofman & Cutfield, 2018).
The world health organization officially declared obesity as an epidemic. In addition, the
government of New Zealand has attempted to take several steps that will help address the issue.
In order to reduce the cases of obesity, it is essential to emphasize proper nutrition and increase
exercise. Healthy nutrition ensures that the body is not gaining any unnecessary weight, while
physical activity ensures that excess calories are being burned off. The individual is, therefore,
able to maintain a healthy body weight (Fallah‐Fini, Vandevijvere, Rezaei, Heke & Swinburn,
2019).
Question 2
There have been several attempts by the stakeholders within the health system and in
other sectors to help address the issue of obesity in New Zealand. The government of New
Zealand has developed a Wellbeing Budget 2019 initiative that aims to promote healthy eating
and increased physical activity in early learning institutions, schools, kohanga reo, and Kura
across Aotearoa. Also, this initiative will be implemented collaboratively with the ministry of
health, Education, and Sport in New Zealand. This ministry will provide all learning institutions
with a physical education curriculum, resources for physical activity, and health promotion staff
who will support the institution with health food policies. There is also an initiative with selected
learning institutions to develop an environment that will encourage physical education and sports
(Kirk, Halim & Basu, 2017).

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Another initiative is that there are strategies to help implement the National Healthy Food
and Drinking policy in various settings in New Zealand. This initiative will be applied most,
especially to children below the age of 2 and pregnant mothers. This subgroup requires proper
nutrition to ensure that they are healthy. The policy will also be actively implemented to school-
going children. According to Chiavaroli, Gibbins, Cutfield, & Derraik (2019), controlling obesity
at the childhood level will help to reduce the number of adults who will become obese in the
future. The growth and weight of children and young people in primary care will be
continuously monitored to prevent them from gaining excess weight. There have also been
initiatives to provide an online BMI calculator (Doolan-Noble, Pullon, Dowell, Fuller & Love,
2019).
Question 3
The world health organization recently launched a framework that described the health
systems thinking approach using six building blocks. They include delivery of services, health
care workforce, information systems, accessibility of medication, finances, and appropriate
leadership. These building blocks apply to the current issue of obesity in New Zealand. The
current service delivery in New Zealand is excellent (Krishnan et al., 2017). There is a competent
workforce that is ready to serve the people. Also, healthcare workers are always ensuring that the
service being delivered is quality. There are also various health information systems in
healthcare facilities. Some of these information systems have been made put online and are free
to us by the public. The community has access to a wide variety of medicines to cater to the side
effects of obesity. Through the effective leadership of the government under the ministry of
health education and sport, there have been finances that were allocated for helping reduce the
number of obese people in New Zealand (Kirk, Halim & Basu, 2017).

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It is estimated that if these system building blocks are applied, they will interact
positively. There will be improved health standards in the context of equity and level. There will
also improve efficiency in the community in general, and there will be increased social and
financial risk protection. The repressiveness of the community and the leaders will increase.
There are a few obstacles, however, that are preventing the application of systems thinking
approach. Due to the high rate of obesity cases developing and the number of individuals who
are currently obese, it is difficult to finance the system thinking approach. Applying the systems
thinking approach will, therefore, be difficult (Gray, et al., 2018).
Question 4
Evidence-based research has provided a few recommendations on how the systems
thinking approach can be modified to be applied in dealing with obesity. To handle the issue of
obesity, Kirk, Halim & Basu (2017), recommends that the government should deal with one
geographical area at a time. Dealing with obesity in the entire country of New Zealand is very
costly; however, finances can be managed more effectively if the country is split into sections,
and the government initiates strategies in one section at a time. This initiative will require fewer
finances and will also be effective (Shackleton et al., 2018).
Another recommendation is a change in the government arrangement. It is recommended
that the ministry of health, education, and sport should delegate some of the duties to the local
leaders. Local leaders are effective in implementing programs because they are in close contact
with the community they serve. In addition, local leaders are responsible for only a small
population. This initiative will allow the population to receive the appropriate information about
physical activity and proper nutrition (Kirk, Halim & Basu, 2017).

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Conclusion
Obesity is a major problem in New Zealand. The government has already set up
initiatives to help improve the situation. Some of these initiatives include, proper nutrition and
increased physical activity. The systems thinking approach can be implemented, however, there
are a few recommendations that should be made to this approach before it is implemented.
Recommendations
It is recommended that the financial budget for health, sports and education should be
reconsidered. This will allow proper allocation of resources to help the initiative to reduce
obesity. It is also recommended that the government should have a rearrangement. The aim of
this is to develop a more effective leadership that will implement the strategies developed.

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References
Chiavaroli, V., Gibbins, J. D., Cutfield, W. S., & Derraik, J. G. (2019). Childhood obesity in
New Zealand. World Journal of Pediatrics, 1-10.
Doolan-Noble, F., Pullon, S., Dowell, T., Fuller, D., & Love, T. (2019). Men living with obesity
in New Zealand: What does this mean for health care in general practice?. Obesity
research & clinical practice, 13(3), 233-239.
Fallah‐Fini, S., Vandevijvere, S., Rezaei, T., Heke, I., & Swinburn, B. (2019). Three Decades of
New Zealand Adults Obesity Trends: An Estimation of Energy Imbalance Gaps Using
System Dynamics Modeling. Obesity, 27(7), 1141-1149.
Gray, L., Stubbe, M., Macdonald, L., Tester, R., Hilder, J., & Dowell, A. C. (2018). A taboo
topic? How General Practitioners talk about overweight and obesity in New
Zealand. Journal of primary health care, 10(2), 150-158.
Kirk, R. C., Halim, A., & Basu, A. (2017). The Effect of Area Level Deprivation on Obesity in
New Zealand: Analysis of The New Zealand Health Surveys.
Krishnan, M., Thompson, J. M., Mitchell, E. A., Murphy, R., McCowan, L. M., & Shelling, A.
N. (2017). Analysis of association of gene variants with obesity traits in New Zealand
European children at 6 years of age. Molecular BioSystems, 13(8), 1524-1533.
Leong, K. S., Derraik, J. G., Hofman, P. L., & Cutfield, W. S. (2018). Antibiotics, gut
microbiome and obesity. Clinical endocrinology, 88(2), 185-200.

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Shackleton, N., Milne, B. J., Audas, R., Derraik, J. G., Zhu, T., Taylor, R. W., ... & Taylor, B.
(2018). Improving rates of overweight, obesity and extreme obesity in New Zealand 4‐
year‐old children in 2010–2016. Pediatric obesity, 13(12), 766-777.