DHB hysteria

The Herald reports:

DHBs want a tax on sugary drinks – warning the obesity epidemic could result in Kiwi kids living shorter lives than their parents.

The extraordinary letters sent to Health Minister David Clark are the strongest call for change so far from within a health system treating more obesity-related disease and tooth decay.

“For the first time in history, NZ children could live shorter lives than their parents as a result of excess weight and obesity,” Andrew Blair, chair of both Capital & Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs, told Clark.

Even if that is the case,a tax on sugary drinks will make no difference.

If we are generous and assume the following:

• A sugar tax reduces consumption of soda drinks by 10%
• There is no substitution (highly unlikely but we’ll be generous)

Then the average New Zealander will consume 3.2 fewer calories a day.

That means after seven and a half years of a sugar tax, the average New Zealander will lose one kg of weight!