Urgent Need for Tax on Sugary Beverages: Health Boards

The DHB want a tax on sweetened beverages – warning that the obesity epidemic could lead to a shorter life for kiwi children than their parents.

Extraordinary letters to Minister of Health David Clark are the strongest. "For the first time in history, New Zealand children could live faster than their parents because of being overweight and obese," said Andrew Blair, president of New Zealand. Capital & Blair wrote to Clark

that the Pacific, Maori and people living in the poorest areas bear the burden of an obesity problem causing "spiraling demands and rising costs." ". Various lobby groups in this highly controversial space and encourage you to be as proactive as possible, especially with regard to sugary drinks, including considering the introduction of a tax.

Support for school clinics and the strength of our health services will also help support healthy communities and families. This would be more effective if the environment supported fewer sugary drinks and unnecessary energy drinks.

DHB cited the position of the World Health Organization (WHO) that taxes and subsidies affect purchasing behavior. reduce the consumption of sugary drinks and contribute to the fight against obesity and diabetes.A tax was also supported by the NZ Dental Association and the Australian Medical Association

Clark is urged to promptly introduce a tax including artificially sweetened beverages because they are also harmful to oral health.

Blair was not available for an interview. Mr. Nelson-Marlborough DHB has confirmed that he is in favor of a 20 percent excise tax on sweetened beverages.

The three DHBs of Auckland are members of the Healthy Auckland Together coalition. His spokesman, Dr. Michael Hale, said the DHBs had not taken a stand on the tax on sweetened beverages, but that the coalition "would like to draw attention to the statements made by the government. WHO, Australian Medical Association and our dental colleagues.

Only one DHB confirmed that he had previously asked the government to consider a tax on sugar. In 2015, Hauora Tairāwhiti wrote to former Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and asked him to consider a tax, with President David Scott claiming that nearly 40% of the population was obese and that "that villain of the illness should be limited to the source. "" We have the highest proportion of children extracting teeth in the country which is unfortunately directly related to babies and toddlers fed with sugary drinks at first via a bottle of baby, "wrote Scott

. There were no immediate plans for a tax on sweetened foods and drinks.

"We promised the public that we would not introduce new taxes during our first term, but we are looking for ways to reduce the amount of sugar Clark said he had met with." 39; food industry and they were clear about his concerns about the obesity epidemic and his desire to see less sugar in our food

"It is clear from these meetings that some companies are already moving towards low-sugar products, that they are doing so abroad, that they are not doing anything. they know what it looks like and they would like to see the world go faster in that direction. "

A report commissioned by the Department of Health, rendered in October 2017, concluded that the evidence of a tax on sugar was not conclusive. The New Zealand Initiative think tank and other opponents of a tax study claim that the studies on which tax experts rely heavily overestimate the amount of taxes that would reduce consumption.

Sir Peter Gluckman, until recently Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister last month that evidence of a tax on sugar in countries like New Zealand had become much more strong in recent years. A report to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern highlighted this change.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark called for a sugar tax and says lobbying efforts against these measures "recall how the tobacco industry was fighting taxes and regulations". ] The NZ Beverage Council, representing the manufacturers, could not be reached for comment.