Auckland leisure centres axe unhealthy drinks from vending machines

Auckland Council is to stop selling drinks sweetened by sugar from vending machines at its leisure centres in a bid to try to reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Instead, thirsty visitors to the 21 sites will be offered water, unflavoured milk, 100% fruit juice, diluted fruit juice with no added sugar or artificially sweetened soft drinks.

"We work hard to encourage Aucklanders to be more active more often as we strive to be the world's most liveable city," chief executive Stephen Town said. "It just doesn't fit to sell sugary drinks in places where we are trying to support healthier lifestyles."

The new policy will be introduced between July and October.

The council operates or licenses out food operations within some of the leisure centres and Mr Town said they were in talks with these vendors.

"We are having discussions with relevant partners and suppliers over the provision of healthy choices across all areas of council operations."

Food and Grocery Council chief executive Katherine Rich said it was up to retailers to choose how they sell their products.

"What retailers decide to offer to their customers is a matter for them," Rich said. "Most people are aware of the need to moderate their consumption of sugars from all sources in their diet."

Governments around the world have been stepping up efforts to tackle increasing rates of obesity. In 2012, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg sought to limit the size of fizzy drinks that could be sold by outlets regulated by the city, an attempt that was quashed in the courts in 2014. Mexico adopted a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in 2014.

In March this year, the then British chancellor, George Osborne, used his budget to introduce a levy on drinks with added sugar from April 2018, with the money to be used to increase funding for sport at schools teaching children under the age of 11. However, Mr Osborne was sacked from his job by new Prime Minister Theresa May following the British public's vote to leave the European Union and David Cameron's decision to stand down as prime minister. Mr Osborne's conservative colleagues had criticised the proposal and its future is unclear.

Following Mr Osborne's proposal, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman argued there was no proof that a sugar tax would work but that the government was keeping a "watching brief" on the research being carried out around the world.

Ministry of Health data for 2014/15 shows the child obesity rate in New Zealand is 11% or just over one in 10 children. Some 15% of Maori children are obese, with the figure rising to 30 percent for Pacific children. Almost one in three adults aged 15 or over is obese.

(BusinessDesk)

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