KEY POINTS:
WELLINGTON - Simply by putting water instead of sugary drinks in its vending machines Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) reckons it has removed 1.86 tonnes of sugar from its premises in a year.
That is equal to one and a half elephants, said the CDHB on the implementation of a healthy food policy.
Since the policy was introduced last year, CDHB has worked with the owners of vending machines across all of its sites to ensure that healthy food choices make up 70 per cent of what is on offer.
Drink vending machines now contain mostly bottled water, and other vending machines contain healthy snacks such as crackers and cheese, soup, muesli bars, pretzels and nuts and raisins.
The food being sold in on site cafes is "70 per cent healthy".
CDHB said it is trying to lead by example by providing healthy food choices for its 8400 employees, and patients.
"Poor diet is the leading cause of death in New Zealand," said Greg Hamilton, manager of Public Health Intelligence at Community and Public Health.
- NZPA
