Disadvantaged’

restricted diet.

Leafa believed the current system doesn’t cater for anybody who sits outside of the norm. ‘‘You’re already putting a lot of blame on yourself because you can’t do what you think you’re meant to do, and then for [people] to turn around and say ‘you to lose weight’, it adds another layer of guilt.’’

Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners medical director, Dr Bryan Betty, said a higher BMI did bring greater risks, but using it to determine fertility treatment access threw up equity issues. Betty said a system based on an individual’s risk would be more equitable.

‘‘I think BMI is problematic in the sense that different ethnicities have different make-ups in terms of muscle mass and fat deposition.’’

In the year to June, 6306 individuals accessed public fertility services. Eight per cent of couples who received their first treatment were Ma¯ori, while 5 per cent were of Pacific Island descent. In the 2018 Census, 16.5 per cent of people identified as Ma¯ori, and 8.1 per cent were Pacific peoples.

Fertility Associates’ Dr Olivia Stuart is the only Ma¯ori female fertility subspecialist in the country, and said the BMI requirement was ‘‘outdated’’.

‘‘We are seeing women with a BMI in the low tomid 30s also having a good chance of success.’’

The New Zealand Health Survey 2019/20 found around one in three Kiwis aged 15 and over were obese, with 47.9 per cent of Ma¯ori and 63.4 per cent of Pacific people sitting in this category.

Adults living in the most economically deprived areas were 1.8 timesmore likely to be obese than those living in the least deprived areas.