Mental health is not just connected to what’s inside our head. The environment around us can play a part – either supporting wellbeing or driving a decline.
- Associate Professor, University of Canterbury
The effects of childhood exposure to poor air quality may be small for the individual, but at a population level, they could have major consequences on the workforce.
Sports sponsorship is the main way children are exposed to alcohol marketing. It increases their risk of drinking at earlier ages, drinking more once they start and drinking more hazardously.
The risk of serious disease outbreaks among NZ children is now very real. Some childhood immunisation rates have dropped from about 80% in early 2020 to 67% by June 2022, and as low as 45% for Māori.
The last time New Zealanders even had a flu season was in 2019. The flu, along with COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, is expected to hit hard this winter.
How we design our cities can make it harder to be healthy. City planners are now able to quantify the different elements that are affecting our health and well-being.
New Zealand has managed to stamp out onward transmission of the Delta variant, which means it’s not dealing with a “double epidemic” and has a better chance to tackle Omicron’s spread.
Omicron may soon arrive at the border, but New Zealand hopes to keep it out of the community through border controls, testing requirements and rapid genome sequencing of any positive cases.
New Zealand has avoided a COVID-19 outbreak, despite a visit by an Australian traveller with the delta variant. But now is clearly the time to introduce mandatory scanning and mask rules.
New Zealand’s capital is on high alert after an Australian visitor tested positive on their return home. With less than 10% vaccinated, New Zealanders remain vulnerable to new outbreaks.
Tooth decay remains the most widespread chronic and irreversible disease in New Zealand, but 6-7% of all children and adults use a non-fluoride toothpaste.
Living near lots of fast-food outlets doesn’t automatically encourage weight gain in your neighbourhood, but coupled with a lack of exercise facilities, it just might.
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