More than 324,000 Kiwis have diabetes and myths make life tougher.
Palmerston North City Council is set to vote on a formal fizzy drink ban at venues, a move labelled an “overreach” by its own mayor.
The New Zealand Dental Association backs a ban on sugary drinks by all councils on venues they own and operate.
A health advocate says sports grounds are “health and wellbeing type of venues”, so sugary drinks don’t belong there.
As civic leaders prepare to vote on whether to ban sugary drinks from Palmerston North’s busy sports stadium, New Zealand’s professional dentists body wants a similar ban nationwide.
It says the formal ban of sugary drinks at its venues – including Central Energy Trust Arena – could “promote healthier lifestyle choices for Palmerston North residents and visitors”.
Mayor Grant Smith is opposed to the move and some submissions have been against it. One told the council to “butt out” on the issue of drink choice and another said the policy was attempting to make the city a “nanny state”.
New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) director of dental policy Dr Robin Whyman supports the plan.
“They are health and wellbeing type of venues, that is what they are there for,” Whyman said.
“Therefore, to have a particularly unhealthy option in terms of drink is something we think doesn’t make sense.
“One of our recommended policies in our position statement on sugars in sugary drinks is local government introducing water-only policies at venues, sports events and limiting the sale and advertising of sugary drinks around their venues.”
Dr Robin Whyman says the New Zealand Dental Association fully supports initiatives like Palmerston North City Council's. Photo / NZME
The health promotion policy would combine three PNCC health-related policies – healthy beverages, smoke-free and vape-free, and sun protection – into one.
As well as covering fizzy drinks, the potential clampdown on the sale of sugary drinks would also target other carbonated soft drinks, fruit drinks and flavoured milk.
The proposed policy would also require smoke-free and vape-free signs to be in te reo Māori and English and require sunblock stations to be available at “council-delivered” community events between September and April.
Those events include the city’s official New Year celebrations.
The proposal said while some popular fizzy drinks would be banned, free and clean drinking water would be made available. PNCC had previously started phasing out some sugary drinks at the Central Trust Energy Arena.
While the local mayor is opposed to the sugary drinks part of his council’s proposal, Whyman said it was a “strong policy” supported by the NZDA, which advocates for dentists and has an aim of helping the public make informed choices about their dental care.
“We think it is in line with the Local Government Act as well in terms of promoting societal wellbeing as part of the core responsibility of local government under the act,” he said.
“The freedom of choice thing needs to move into an environment away from those environments. We would of course support water-only policies.”
Whyman said a member of the NZDA had actively spoken to local bodies around New Zealand about banning sugary and fizzy drinks at their sporting venues.
He said the body had received “levels of support” but added “different local governments interpret the responsibility they have around healthy environments and social wellbeing somewhat differently”.
Rugby fans get in behind Romania at Palmertson North's Central Energy Trust Arena during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Many of New Zealand’s leading sports venues – including FMG Stadium, Sky Stadium, Forsyth Barr Stadium, McLean Park, Go Media Mt Smart Stadium, North Harbour Stadium, Rotorua International Stadium, Apollo Projects Stadium and Christchurch’s under-construction One New Zealand Stadium – are owned or operated by local government.
But others – such as Eden Park, Hagley Oval and Bay Oval - are independently operated.
When asked if the NZDA would like all sports venues in New Zealand to be free of sugary drinks, Whyman said: “We would of course encourage other venues, privately owned venues, to say ’we are not going to support sugary drinks as well’.”
Dentists: Sugary drinks ‘significant contributor to tooth decay’
The NZDA’s seven-point policy on sugary drinks includes local bodies introducing “water-only” policies at council venues that host sports and other events.
It also wants councils to limit the sale of sugary drinks in and around schools.
The association says sugary drinks offer “no nutritional value” and “contribute empty calories and replace healthier beverage options”.
“Sugary drinks are no longer a looming public health crisis, but a very real one,” its position statement says.
The New Zealand Dental Association says the severity of poor teeth health in some of our youth has to be addressed. Photo / 123RF
“By working together, and acting now, we can prevent not only oral health damage, but obesity – a leading risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.”
Whyman said the “severity of the issue” of tooth decay in youth should not be overlooked and urged action to be taken on the promotion and availability of sugary and fizzy drinks.
“The Dental Association’s view is sugars in sugary drinks are a significant contributor to dental decay,” he said.
Whyman added the association was not calling for an outright ban.
Another option he believed would be a positive one health-wise was to introduce a tax levy on sugary drinks.
Submissions presented to the PNCC in November on its mooted Health Promotion Policy 2024 included one from Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) MidCentral’s division.
Central Energy Trust Arena is a well-regarded multi-purpose stadium that has hosted a raft of top-level sporting clashes. Photo / Supplied
HNZ’s MidCentral district supported limiting the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks, submissions pointing out poor dental health among youth in the region.
“Providing access to drinking water is an effective way to promote water as the best choice of drink. It is especially important for children and young people to see adults modelling healthy drinking habits.”
Health officials say adults should ideally consume no more than six teaspoons of sugar a day, and children no more than three or four.
Te Tai Ora Public Health – a division of the National Public Health Service – says consuming sugary drinks increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.
It says children who consume one or more sugary drinks daily are 50%-60% more likely to be overweight or obese than children who don’t.
“Having one or two sugary drinks per day may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 26%,” it adds.
“The high sugar content and acidity of many sugary drinks can cause tooth decay.”
The NZDA has previously run an ‘All Rizz, No Fizz’ month-long awareness campaign “on prioritising water and making it the focus of your health and wellbeing”.
If approved, sugary drinks would be formally banned at Central Energy Trust Arena and free drinking water would be available. Photo / 123RF
They have also promoted a 30-day water-only beverage campaign.
Whyman said given the negative health impacts of sugary drinks, he urged councils to take the issue seriously and hoped more Kiwis would ditch them in place of water.
“We know that those larger cans of sugary drinks, once you have drunk one of those if you are an adult you have already taken in about 70-80% of your recommended daily sugar intake,” he said.
“If you are a child, you are going to go up to over 100% of your recommended daily intake. They contain a lot of sugar and we know that is a significant contributor to tooth decay.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.
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