Public Health Expert

Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Cristina Cleghorn, Dr Andrea Teng, Dr Rob Beaglehole, Prof Tony Blakely New Zealand has made some progress in removing the sale of sugary drinks from hospitals and schools. In this blog we look at such successes to date and consider what could be done to further reduce availability of these products which are both harming oral … Read More

by Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere, Alanna Soupen, University of Auckland Kiwis want tougher restrictions on junk food marketing to children. A Horizon Research poll conducted last year found 41% of Kiwi’s were strongly in favour of greater restrictions to reduce the advertising of unhealthy foods and drinks to children, and 32% “somewhat” in favour. About 6000 “ActionStation” members called … Read More

Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Nhung Nghiem, Dr Cristina Cleghorn, Dr Nisha Nair, Prof Tony Blakely Researchers report on the optimisation of the design of bread for heart health, a study published recently in BMC Nutrition. Using linear programming we found it possible to design breads that are nutritionally superior to commercially available breads in 15 countries … Read More

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By Lindsay Robertson, Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards and Louise Marsh* Two recent articles by Aspire2025 researchers have explored how tobacco sales in New Zealand could be more effectively regulated. The first examines licensing models that have been implemented overseas, while the second explores how provisions from the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 could inform tobacco supply policies (both published in the … Read More

Dr Robyn Toomath Editorial note: In this blog-perspective, obesity expert Dr Robyn Toomath outlines the dogmas and arguments for the ‘individual-responsibility’ explanation and (lack of) solution to the obesity epidemic. She then points to the market failures that render (non-regulated) free-market solutions as doomed to fail. The views in this blog are expanded in greater depth in a book Dr … Read More

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An open letter to Cabinet Ministers from 74 health professors calling for a sugary drinks tax In this Public Health Expert blog, we reproduce a letter that appeared in the NZ Herald on 2 April.  Boyd Swinburn, Rod Jackson, and Cliona Ni Mhurchu led the writing.    Dear Cabinet Ministers We are very concerned by New Zealand’s appallingly high rate … Read More

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Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Osman Mansoor, Prof Michael Baker To help explain the concept of ‘herd immunity’, The Guardian Newspaper has produced a clever online simulator of measles spread. We comment on why this simulator is informative and how it also demonstrates chance effects in the spread of infectious diseases. Then we take the opportunity to explain why NZ should … Read More

Dr Wilma Waterlander, Prof Nick Wilson, Prof Cliona Ni Mhurchu, Dr Cristina Cleghorn, Dr Andrea McDonald, Dr Helen Eyles, Prof Tony Blakely A Conservative UK Government has announced a new soft drink tax with revenue recycling towards school-based physical activity programmes. In this blog, we briefly look at the UK initiative and assess its possible utility for changing New Zealand’s … Read More

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Prof Nick Wilson, Dr George Disney, Prof Tony Blakely New Zealand is making rapid strides in the smart use of big data to provide better health information for decision-makers. Here we look at a recent output: a Treasury Working Paper that considers the employment and income effects of eight health conditions. Such information could ultimately inform the best use … Read More

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Janet Hoek, Co-Director, ASPIRE2025 and Professor of Marketing and Philip Gendall, ASPIRE2025 and Emeritus Professor of Marketing The Prime Minister’s decision to progress plain packaging legislation “sooner rather than later” is an important step towards our smokefree 2025 goal. There are four key areas for improving on Australia’s legislation to maximise the effectiveness of plain packaging: preventing the proliferation of brand … Read More