Overweight and obesity have a significant impact on New Zealanders' health. The 2006/07 New Zealand Health survey found that one in three (36.1%) New Zealand adults are overweight and one in four (26.5%) are obese. For children (aged 2-14 years), one in five (20.9%) are overweight and one in twelve (8.3%) are obese (Ministry of Health 2008).

This presentation will outline the Ministry of Health’s response to obesity across the continuum from prevention through to treatment and management. Within the prevention area, the Ministry provides policy advice in the areas of nutrition and physical activity and has undertaken a lot of work over the last few years through the implementation of its Healthy Eating – Healthy Action Strategy.

The Ministry has developed a New Zealand guideline for weight management for children and adults based on scientific evidence, international practice, NZ specific knowledge and review of the literature. The purpose of the guideline is to ensure the delivery of reliable and consistent advice for people who are overweight or obese, and support the health sector to deliver evidence based treatment that is of relevance to the New Zealand population and priority groups. The Guidelines highlight the need for a combined approach covering food, activity and behaviour change (FAB). Implementation of the Guidelines will include alignment with the Cardiovascular Disease guidelines currently being rolled-out and the Diabetes Guidelines which are under review.

The management of the Green Prescription and Active Families programmes were transferred from SPARC to the Ministry on July 1 this year. Weight issues are the main reason identified for referral to Green Prescriptions. This presentation will also look at the opportunities that this and other changes within the health sector provide for the prevention and management of obesity.