Hāpai Te Hauora calls for a universal ban on the sale of non-water beverages in New Zealand schools.
Sugary drinks are now ubiquitous in our communities. Children are exposed to sugary drinks everywhere, including some
schools. As a result, they are consuming extremely high rates of sugar - far more than the WHO-recommended daily sugar
intake.
With this in mind, it is hardly surprising to see high rates of obesity, diabetes, dental caries and many other health
issues linked to the obesogenic environment among children in Aotearoa. Janell Dymus, General Manager Māori Public
Health at Hāpai Te Hauora believes that to tackle this issue, school policies should be changed. "Sugary drinks should
be prohibited in schools."
Dymus says "It is time to take serious action and protect our children from sugary drinks. The only drink we need
available to our children is water. If we want them to be healthy, schools should have policies banning the sale of
sugary drinks".
"This will only be achieved if the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education work closely to support our
children’s future health and wellbeing." Dymus continues "The Ministry of Health is currently developing a strategy for
child and youth health. A water-only policy for New Zealand state schools is an obvious area of collaboration which will
support the goals of both public agencies. Children will be healthier, and their concentration and behaviour will not be
adversely affected by high sugar beverages. It’s a win/win."
Current regulatory settings which allow for sugary drinks in schools send mixed messages to parents and children. "We
cannot encourage children to choose healthy beverages when schools provide unhealthy ones. Beverages sold in schools
should be chosen carefully because when fizzy and sugary drinks are sold there we are telling children these drinks are
good for you and normalizing them which we do not want to do. We cannot expect children to prefer water over sugary
drinks when the heavily marketed and advertised sugary drinks are placed next to water in schools vending machines."
Child health indicators are currently under scrutiny by the Government. However, topics like school environments and
their influence on child health have not been given enough attention. To reduce children’s sugar intake and hence
improve child health, schools are a good place to target as the sale of sugary drinks in schools could be easily
restricted for little cost and effort.
"School policies shape our children health, a universal water only approach should’ve been done ages ago" To better
address the issue of high sugar intake a universal policy is best suited. It is an issue affecting a high proportion of
children across the nation. "We cannot target specific schools or groups when restricting sugary drinks. Every child is
exposed to the heavily marketed sugary drinks, policies should protect them all" Dymus added.
In response to the saturation of sugary drinks in our communities across Aotearoa, Hāpai are leading, for the second
year, a whanau-centric challenge to reduce consumption of sugary drinks and increase consumption of water across our
communities.
The Fizz Free Whānau campaign details can be found here: https://www.fizzfree.org.nz
What: Fizz Free Whānau: A challenge to reduce sugary drink consumption
When: 1-28 February 2019
How: Get on board with #FizzFreeWhānau on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @fizzfreenz