New South Wales (NSW), a state in Australia announced on Thursday that it will ban sugar-based beverages in all hospitals in order to combat increasing obesity. Obesity and overweight has increased worldwide during the past 30 years in all divisions of society causing 3.4 million deaths, 3.9% of years of life lost, and 3.8% of disability-adjusted life-years worldwide, with major healthcare costs implicated. WHO have estimated that there are 1.9 billion overweight adults in the world, 600 million of whom are obese. This equates to 13% of the global adult population. If recent trends continue, it is estimated that there will be 2.16 billion individuals classified as overweight and 1.12 billion as obese by 2030.
According to the report of Xinhua news agency, the move comes as part of NSW Health's "Make Healthy Normal" campaign, which aims to achieve a 5 per cent reduction in overweight and obesity rates in adults by 2020.
"There's no better way to start than right here on our own doorstep. By establishing this model, we hope it shows how a workable strategy can be successfully implemented across any organization to assist healthier choices in any staffing environment." Kerry Chant said. Kerry Chant is the chief health officer of the NSW Health.
According to the NSW Heart Foundation, a health advocacy and charity group, "one in two adults and more than one in five children in the state are overweight or obese, which dramatically heightens the risk of a wide range of chronic health conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and some cancers".
"Governments at every level have a role to play in making the healthy choice easy," NSW Heart Foundation's chief executive Kerry Doyle told Xinhua news agency.
"People visiting hospitals and patients should all have access to healthy foods and not have the temptation of sugar laden drinks confronting them at every corner."
