New Zealand given further diabetes and obesity caution

Diabetes, according to doctors speaking out at a parliamentary inquiry in New Zealand, is the major threat posed by the obesity epidemic sweeping the country . The Health Select Committee have recently been conducting an inquiry into obesity and type 2 diabetes.
New Zealand has recently experienced a vast rise in obesity rates, and a major diabetes epidemic threatens to engulf the islands. According to Medical Association Chairman Ross Boswell, the disease has run rife through 10 per cent of the Maori and Pacific Islander population, and this figure will increase.
The Medical Association put forward their views on ways to solve the problem. These include regulation to prevent the advertisement of junk food during hours when children are watching, and the establishment of a taskforce to coordinate the approach to solving obesity.
A visiting French MP highlighted successful French measures to combat obesity. In France the government has paid schools to remove vending machines . The country has also raised taxes on any alcopop drinks that contain over 35gm of sugar. New Zealand, the French MP said, should consider similar steps.