Easter eggs okay by fat police

It's okay to eat Easter eggs as long as you confine the splurge to the holiday weekend. Picture / Paul Estcourt

At last you can eat Easter eggs and not feel guilty. Anti-obesity groups that would normally rail against sugary, fatty foods say it's okay to indulge yourself with Easter treats - as long as you confine the splurge to the holiday weekend.

"I have no problem with people eating chocolate at Easter-time," says Fight the Obesity Epidemic spokeswoman Dr Robyn Toomath, a diabetes specialist.

"In fact in some ways this is exactly how we should be eating chocolate. It should be a treat food. If it's a once-or- twice-a-year you-eat-too-much food that's fine.

"It's the generalisation of chocolate consumption to it being a normal, everyday item that is the problem."

Obesity Action Coalition executive director Celia Murphy agrees, but she thinks 20 Easter eggs - a confectionery manufacturers' association estimate of New Zealand's consumption per capita - "is a bit over the top. It's the fact we treat ourselves every day that's the problem."

"I don't really have a problem with it [scoffing chocolate at Easter]. Obviously we don't want people eating bucketsful of it.

"It's about getting treat foods back into their place: Easter, Christmas, birthday treats," she said.

Poor nutrition - including excess fat and sugar - and lack of exercise are blamed for rapidly increasing obesity in New Zealand, and among Australians, who also eat 20 Easter eggs per capita. In both countries, around 60 per cent of adults are overweight or obese, with a slightly higher rate in Australia.