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2006 Health Survey Summary (Wednesday, 10 September 2008)


2006 Health Survey Summary

What do the latest statistics tell us about the state of Maori nutrition and physical activity. The 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey found the following results:

Obesity
• For Mäori men and women there have been no significant changes in mean BMI since 1997. 41.7% of Maori adults are obese – this equals 148300 people.
• 11.8% of Mäori children age 2-14 years are obese. This equals 19900 children.
• However since 2002 there has been a decrease in the average BMI for Mäori children
• Children living in areas of high neighbourhood deprivation (NZ Dep 2006 quintile 5) were more likely to be obese than children living in all other areas. This was true for both boys and girls. 5.2% of boys and 5.7% of girls were obese in NZ Dep Quinitile 1 (least deprived) compared to 13.9% of boys and 16.4% of girls in Quintile 5

Childrens Nutrition
• Mäori children were less likely to have ever been breastfed compared to the total population
• Maori children were more likely than children in the total population to have been given solids before 4 months of age
• Maori children were less likely to have eaten breakfast at home everyday in the previous 7 days compared to boys and girls in the total population
• 24% of Mäori children age 2-14 consumed three or more fizzy drinks in the past 7 days
• 10%of Mäori children age 2-14 ate fast food 3 or more times in past 7 days. (Eating fast food more than twice a week is associated with an increased risk of weight gain, overweight and obesity).
• Children living in highest deprivation areas (NZDep 5) were much more likely to have eaten fast food 3 or more times in previous 7 days (13.9%) than children living in areas of low deprivation (NZDep1) 3.4%

Childrens Physical Activity
• After adjusting for age, Pacific and Mäori boys were 20% more likely to walk, bike, skate, or use other forms of activity to go to and from school compared to boys in total population
• 76.1% of Maori children usually watched 2 or more hours of television a day. (SPARC recommends children should not watch more than 2 hours a day of television.)
• Children living in most deprived neighbourhoods were significantly more likely to watch television than those living in the least deprived neighbourhoods.



Adult Nutrition
• Mäori women were slightly less likely than all women to have an adequate vegetable intake. There is a decrease in prevalence of adequate vegetable intake by NZ Dep 2006 quintile for both men and women. Only half 50.3% the men in areas of high neighbourhood deprivation had adequate daily vegetable intake compared to 60.3% of men in least deprived neighbourhoods
• For Mäori there was a significant decrease between 2002/3 to 2006/7 in the proportion of men who consumed the recommended 3 or more servings of vegetables a day from 63.4% to 55.2%. There was no change in Mäori womens consumption of vegetables since 1997. 65.2% of Mäori women were consuming 3 or more servings of vegetables in 2006/7.
• Overall there has been an increase in the prevalence of adequate fruit intake (2 or more servings a day) since 2002. Maori have reflected this trend
• 72.9% of women and 52.4% of men in the least deprived areas (NZDep 1) had an adequate fruit intake compared to 62.4% of women and 43.8% of men in decile 5.

Adult Physical Activity
• Half of all adults met the definition of being regularly physical active (at least 30 minutes per day on 5 or more days a week). Men are more likely to meet this guideline than women. Maori are slightly more likely to be active compared to men and women in the total population. However 14% of Mäori adults are sedentary.