The health effects of sugary drinks and possible strategies to reduce their intake will be the focus of a public health experts' conference next month.
The one-day conference - Sugary Drink Free Aotearoa by 2025 - will be held at Manukau Institute of Technology on October 7, with particular reference to Maori and Pacific communities.
It will include a panel discussion led by Boyd Swinburn - a professor of population nutrition and global health at Auckland University, and the director of the World Health Organisation's collaborating centre for obesity prevention at Deakin University in Melbourne.
The panel will include Manukau East MP Jenny Salesa, Toi Tangata chief executive Leonie Matoe, Auckland University Pacific health director Dr Teuila Percival, Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board chairman Efeso Collins, and Pacific Health Development general manager Elizabeth Powell.
Dr Gerhard Sundborn of Fizz - a group that advocates for the end of the sale of sugary drinks - is researching initiatives to reduce sugary drink consumption.
