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Source: ONE News
There are far more pressing issues for many New Zealand families than the controversial referendum on anti-smacking legislation. If Christine Rankin and her fellow Families Commissioners genuinely want to better the lot of New Zealand families, there is no shortage of stuff they could be working on.
For a start, they could focus on the latest research from Otago University's Department of Public Health .
Researchers there have found that only 38% of New Zealand children now drink milk daily , 34% weekly, while 17% do not drink milk at all. Even allowing for an apparent proliferation of allergies, these are alarming figures for a dairy rich country which has traditionally regarded milk as a cheap staple food.
What's more, the survey found the main reason was cost. Two litres of milk rose in price from $2.64 to $3.21 between February 2007 and May 2009. The prices of soft drinks remained steady during the same period. It does not take a researcher's eye to see that supermarket 'specials' on soft drinks frequently see the sugar loaded fizzy costing up to 75% less than milk.
The end result, researchers say, is that milk is now beyond the reach of many low-income families.
What's more the survey makes clear that milk has been replaced
by unhealthy, mostly fizzy alternatives among lower socio-economic
groups, Maori and Pacific people. And surely milk is not the
only 'Kiwi staple' now off many of the nation's shopping
lists. What about fresh fish, quality meat cuts, vegetables
and fresh fruit?
Researchers have sheeted responsibility for declining milk
consumption home to successive governments for the removal of
subsidies and industry controls. The application of GST on
food and linking of retail prices to international commodity prices
also share the blame. Otago University's research team has
suggested the government take action to make milk - which it
regards as fundamental to children's health - more readily
available. It recommends a range of options from introducing
price controls or subsidies to reducing or eliminating GST on
health food choices.
The removal of GST on healthy foods appears a sensible starting point for a nation battling rising rates of obesity and ill health.
The NZ Food and Grocery Council's response to a query about the removal of GST on healthy items is that it would be far too complicated and difficult to administer. In the past, there's been similar opposition to an anti-obesity group's push for traffic light coloured stickers that indicate an items health value in terms of fat and sugar content. Undoubtedly the debate over how and which items would fall into a healthy basket would be thorny and complicated.
Surely this is very type of issue is tailor made for an organisation like the Families Commission to tackle. It's highly relevant to families and could ultimately lead to making the weekly shop cheaper and healthier. A step guaranteed to alleviate pressure on stressed households in the midst of a recession.
The time has come for the Families Commission to get actively involved in every day issues that really matter to most families. Sure, some parents are peeved by a law that effectively labels them criminals for smacking their kids. But parents also understand the genesis of the legislation was the senseless deaths of young children like Nia Glassie.
Enough said. It's time to get real and move on.
