Dr Robyn Toomath - a diabetes specialist and clinical director of general medicine at Auckland Hospital - says after 14 years she has achieved nothing

A leading diabetes expert has wound up her national campaign to tackle New Zealand’s obesity epidemic because she feels she “has achieved nothing” in 14 years of effort.



Dr Robyn Toomath – a diabetes specialist and clinical director of general medicine at Auckland Hospital – says she has seen no progress in the battle to tackle the country’s obesity crisis.

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The action group she founded – Fight the Obesity Epidemic (FOE) – will close its website and Toomath says she will release a book on obesity next year which will be her “swan song”.

New Zealand is the third fattest nation of the OECD countries, according to official statistics.



One in every three New Zealand adults, and one in every ten New Zealand children are obese.



Toomath started FOE in 2001 as she was beginning to treat teenagers with type-two diabetes, an illness that had previously affected only those over the age of 40.



In her work at Auckland Hospital, Toomath said she regularly saw patients who were “morbidly obese”



“Every single ward round, I am seeing patients that are morbidly obese, and have medical problems as a result. We are ordering more and more large sized beds, we’re ordering more hoists. It’s expensive, and there is going to be more of it,” she told Radio New Zealand.



Toomath has campaigned for a tax on fizzy drinks and junk food, more restrictions on the marketing and advertising of junk foods and says junk food and fizzy drinks should be banned in schools.



However, she says after 14 years she has made “no progress”.

“We live in an obesogenic environment with too much access to and promotion of energy-dense, nutrient-poor food,” she told the Guardian. “The rates aren’t improving because we’ve done nothing to make them change.

“We need to change the default environment so that it favours a healthy diet. We need to ban the advertising of junk food on TV. Schools need to have restrictions so that only healthy food and water can be sold in schools and used in sponsorship and fund-raising activities. We need a soft-drink tax ..to begin with.

“Children are obviously our greatest concern. Eating patterns are established when young, good nutrition is important for learning, obesity limits mobility and the acquisition of physical skills, soft drinks rot teeth. Fat children are stigmatised.”



Although New Zealand is marketed as an outdoor, athletic haven, obesity is a long-standing issue for the island nation. Forty six percent of New Zealand’s indigenous population, the Maori, are obese, as are 66% of Pacific Islanders resident in New Zealand.



The New Zealand government has just launched an advertising campaign featuring New Zealand sports stars to try and encourage New Zealanders to make healthier lifestyle choices.



“The campaign is one of 22 initiatives in the childhood obesity plan which was announced recently. New Zealand is one of the first OECD countries to have a target and a comprehensive plan to tackle childhood obesity,” said health minister Jonathan Coleman.



The campaign includes Olympian Valerie Adams, Silver Fern netball captain Casey Kopua, All Black rugby star Israel Dagg, Black Cap cricket skipper Brendon McCullum and Warriors rugby league star Shaun Johnson.