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Pacific needs NZ's help to tackle impact of sugary drinks, academics say

May 26, 2021

Academics Collin Tukuitonga and Boyd Swinburn spoke to Breakfast about the impacts of sugary drinks in the Pacific and what New Zealand can do.

New Zealand needs to help the Pacific tackle its high death rate from diet-related chronic diseases and needs to do more on sugary drinks in its own backyard, academics say. 

In the Pacific, three-quarters of deaths are caused by chronic diseases.

Collin Tukuitonga, a senior member of the Pasifika Medical Association, told Breakfast today that soft drinks and an unhealthy diet were behind the "devastating" impact. 

"It's a really depressing, terrible story that's not going to go away in a hurry."

Tukuitonga, who is also an associate dean at the University of Auckland, said 14 of 21 islands had imposed a sugar tax. 

In Tonga, it has seen a reduction in the purchase of sugary drinks, he said.  

To tackle diet-related chronic diseases more, Tukuitonga said the Pacific needed New Zealand's help through "resources and expertise".

Boyd Swinburn, professor of population nutrition and global health at the University of Auckland, agreed with his colleague. 

However, he said New Zealand needs to address its own backyard too.

"We need to get our own house in order too."

A sugar tax would be a start, Swinburn said. 

Tukuitonga and Swinburn's comments come in the wake of fresh research out of Deakin University. 

The authors found imports of sweetened beverages increased by an average of 0.30 kilograms per person, per year, between 2005 and 2015.

New Zealand and the United States earned the most from such imports during this time, with the authors saying the countries were incidentally paying for rising health costs through avenues such as aid. 

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