Campaigners for healthy practices are often their own worst enemy. Not content with putting across a convincing argument about the need to address a certain issue, they come up with ever more onerous strictures to enforce it, inviting ridicule in the process. So it is with the Auckland Regional Public Health Service's wish not only to limit what dairies can sell to children but to restrict how many dairies there can be in one area. Force-feeding has never been a feature of the humble dairy, yet suddenly it finds itself in the business of public health.
The health service's plan to target dairies is included in a report to Healthy Auckland Together, an obesity-fighting project also involving government agencies, the Auckland Council, district health boards and community groups. The service says it is alarmed about what dairies are stocking, and the location of many within a short walking distance of schools. "You've only got to go into a dairy or a convenience store and you see what you are confronted with is sugar-sweetened fizzy beverages, chocolate bars, chippies, lollies etc," says its clinical director, Julia Peters.
That is undoubtedly true in many cases, and it would be wrong to underestimate either the extent of obesity or its rate of increase. According to the most recent New Zealand Health Survey, one in nine children is obese. Equally, the Prime Minister's chief science adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman, is right when he says that sugary drinks have no place in a child's diet. But he has stopped short of calling for a tax or ban on them. That would be an over-reaction. So, too, would changes to the Resource Management Act to give councils the power to stop the building of dairies, convenience stores and takeaway outlets.
It would also be asking a great deal of dairies to deny themselves profits in the interests of children's health. It is hardly their role to dampen demand for these cheap, energy-dense and popular products. If they saw themselves in the public health business, they would all have stopped selling them long ago. Six out of seven dairies near a Hamilton primary school have, indeed, agreed with the student council not to sell junk food to children in school uniform. But it is a long way from such a voluntary initiative to the blunt instrument advocated by the health service.
The best solution is far less dramatic. If children are obese, it is probably the consequence of a lack of activity. Earlier generations biked to school and played outside when they returned home, rather than being consumed with electronic devices. It is up to parents to ensure their children get plenty of exercise. That is, in fact, the key ingredient of the Government's plan to tackle obesity. Last month, this saw it roll out Healthy Families New Zealand in 10 locations around the country.
