Coleman's disgrace

Jonathan Coleman's criticism of the Labour-led government's $76 million fight to combat obesity is disgraceful, Health Minister Pete Hodgson said today.

"This man has been a doctor. He knows that obesity is a very serious public health issue and he knows that no western nation has yet managed to solve it. Yet he is happy to criticise the efforts of DHBs, schools, NGOs and communities as they roll out new programmes, on the grounds that money is being spent before research results are to hand.

"Does he really believe that we can afford to await results of more than a decade of research? The Healthy Eating Healthy Action (HEHA) programme has in-built monitoring and research, but the call for action on the alarming rise of obesity means that we don't have the luxury of delaying action. Action must come alongside evaluation - to suggest otherwise is to be out of step with international consensus, or to be plain naive.

"This is yet another example of a newbie letting his eagerness for a headline go to his head."

http://www.moh.govt.nz/healthyeatinghealthyaction

ENDS

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