Let’s ease up on junk

To paraphrase an alcohol awareness slogan, it’s time to say yeah, nah, and ease up on the junk. This week, Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare said sugar taxes and warning labels should be considered to “turn the tide” on a diabetes disaster causing more than 1000 amputations every year.

“I’m a parent [with] young kids. As much as we try and encourage them to live healthy lives they are exposed to these things all the time . . . [sugar taxes and warning labels] are, I think, tools that should be considered.”

Labelling has long been the popular topic around reducing the harm from this nation’s obsession with fatty and sugary foods but, in reality, will never be enough. Some of our most popular and worst choices, bundles of fish and chips or homemade pavlova, are hardly likely to come stickered with aversive health warnings.

Henare clearly understands this and further proposes talking to Pharmac about better drugs to treat and prevent diabetes. Drugs now available here are among the worst in the developed world.

Another possibility is using his role as minister responsible for the Health Promotion Agency to suggest a major campaign around the threat of diabetes, similar to past efforts on drink-driving and smoking. Here’s where the counter attack could fly.

Effective campaigns have helped curb our behaviours around drinking and cigarettes. Each of the past few generations has grown up with repeated exposure to warnings, and rates of smoking and drink-driving have dropped as a result.

There have also been punitive measures, such as hefty taxes on tobacco and harsher penalties for drink-driving, but today’s young adults are very aware of the harms caused by driving over the limit and cigarettes.

Taxes on selected foods seem an unpalatable choice for governments, self-regulation is an anathema to manufacturers and suppliers. But public service messages could be a powerful tool in promoting healthier eating and drinking choices.

Call it fat shaming if you will. Or call it what it is: Stupid choices which are costing us all far too much.