21 Sep 2019

Nick Wareham- how to tackle New Zealand's diabetes epidemic

From Saturday Morning, 8:35 am on 21 September 2019

Professor Nicholas Wareham is a British epidemiologist from the University of Cambridge who researches obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.

He’s here in New Zealand to speak at a University of Otago symposium in Wellington called  From Evidence to Everyday: translating nutrition research for a healthy Aotearoa. He’s particularly interested in public health measures targeted at tackling the country’s obesity and diabetes epidemic.

And he’s been weighing up the benefits of UK policies like screening and testing for type 2 diabetes, investments in cycling infrastructure, restrictions on the number of takeaways allowed in disadvantaged areas, and a sugar levy. At issue? The fact that about 10 percent of the National Health Service’s total budget is spent on caring for people with diabetes.

Nick Wareham

Nick Wareham Photo: Luke Pilkinton-Ching University of Otago Wellington