Coffey acts to ward off the podge

FILE

Rotorua Labour candidate Tamati Coffey is waging a personal battle against obesity - starting with him and his team.

He was shocked into action after discovering that one third of Rotorua adults are classed as obese.

While he'd like to fight the battle on a bigger scale, he's starting with those around him, and he's hoping that will have a wider influence as he invites the public to join in.

Mr Coffey said the local figures as well as a fear of becoming a "podgy politician" spurred him on.

He said other MPs had told him to expect to put on 10-15kg in the first year in the Beehive, and "not to even fight it".

As part of his plan he'll hold three exercise sessions a week - one of which will be a community walk he's encouraging anyone to join.

"I thought let's look after our own first and hopefully that will spread out."

The community walk details will be posted on his Facebook page. "It's a way to get out and do that low-impact stuff."

He's also committed to trying one new sport a fortnight, and will be doing a personal training session once a week.