KEY POINTS:
New Zealand ranks sixth fattest among Western nations and campaigners say the country is doing too little to combat the obesity epidemic.
We sit just behind Australia on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) list for adult obesity, which is headed by the United States.
The list shows that excess body fat is a big problem for most OECD nations; only two countries, Japan and Korea, have obesity rates below 5 per cent.
In New Zealand, 21 per cent of adults were obese in the Ministry of Health's last national survey, in 2003. In 1977 the figure was 10 per cent.
Among children, 10 per cent were obese in the first national check in 2002 and regional studies suggest the rate is increasing.
In population sub-groups, obesity rates increase in line with poverty and are higher among Maori and Pacific people than Europeans.
But New Zealand's international placement may not be as dire as the OECD comparison suggests, because, like Australia, the US, Britain, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg, our estimates come from actually measuring people. This produces a higher figure than relying on people accurately reporting their own height and weight, the method used by most countries.
Regardless, 56 per cent of New Zealand adults are obese or overweight and the percentage is rising, fuelling fears of a blow-out in future health-care costs.
Obesity is linked to many health conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, infertility and depression. Ninety per cent of New Zealanders with type 2 diabetes are obese.
Some 3200 deaths in 1997 - 11 per cent of all deaths - could be attributed to higher-than-optimal body-mass index, a measure derived from height and weight.
Obesity costs New Zealand more than $300 million a year, based on a conservative estimate in the 1990s which drew on the obesity-related costs of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, gallstones and some cancers.
The causes of the rapid rise in obesity are generally said to be increased energy consumption - particularly from high-fat, high-sugar products - and a more sedentary lifestyle, although some researchers say there is no evidence of increased energy intake.
The Obesity Action Coalition's executive director, Leigh Sturgiss, said Government anti-obesity initiatives - like free fruit for children at schools in poor areas and regulations to discourage unhealthy foods at school tuck shops - were good.
"But they are not really doing anything very significant about the problem."
Tough measures were needed, she said, like a ban - rather than voluntary restrictions - on TV ads for unhealthy foods during children's viewing times; a traffic light system for labelling foods as healthy, unhealthy or in-between; and removing goods and services tax from primary produce.
Health Minister David Cunliffe maintains the Government is serious about tackling obesity and has made significant progress in its Healthy Eating/Healthy Action strategy, including the $67 million Mission On scheme aimed at young people.
In responding to the health select committee's obesity inquiry report, the Government said it was investigating front-of-pack labelling.
