663 Results

  • How might NZ expand community water fluoridation?

    … Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor) gave a green light for expanding water fluoridation in New Zealand … and the cost-effectiveness. This blog post goes further to explore what else could be done to maximise the benefits … mild dental fluorosis as a potential downside of CWF, but notes that the occurrence of this cosmetic problem in NZ …
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  • Ventilation in NZ schools during the Omicron wave – results from a preliminary study

    … relatively underutilised public health measure that can reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission. Last year we … cases in children increasing exponentially, 1 2 leading to large numbers of child hospitalisations, including ICU … potentially infect them . Both public health measures are important and their effectiveness have been shown to be …
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  • Oral tobacco and nicotine products: Quitting aid or teen addiction risk?

    … Summary  The government appears poised to allow the sale of oral tobacco and nicotine products in … marketing flavoured tobacco-free oral nicotine products as youth lifestyle products, including NZ-specific promotion … given lower-harm nicotine replacement therapy and vaping products are already widely available as alternatives …
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  • The 5000 annual deaths caused by smoking also matter

    … life caused by road accidents yet pay almost no attention to the equally tragic loss of life caused by the tobacco … them in a lifetime of addiction. 13 How can we take these steps? Retaining the Smokefree Environments and Regulated … of people who smoke. Just as we have an ambitious goal to reduce the road toll , we also have a goal – the Smokefree …
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  • Debate on ultra-processed foods shouldn’t derail good dietary advice

    … Evidence is mounting linking ultra-processed foods (UPF) to risk of chronic disease. Typically, UPF are foods that are … is due to nutrient composition or processing is uncertain but it seems clear that having a lower consumption of UPF … Additionally, these relatively healthy foods may play an important part of dietary intake in NZ, especially for those …
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  • What does recent biomarker literature say about the likely harm from e-cigarettes?

    … levels in e-cigarette users (vapers) are compared to those from tobacco smokers. The results are highly … relative to tobacco smokers. Yet as the situation with vaping is very dynamic (new products, changing ways people … disease. The safest option for smokers using vaping to reduce their health risk would be to limit the duration of …
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  • Vaping prevalence and trends: Important findings from 2023-24 NZ Health Survey

    … Survey (NZHS) data for 2023/2024 have been released. Daily vaping prevalence among adults aged ≥15 years increased from 3.5% in 2019/20 to 11.1% in 2023/24. Vaping prevalence was particularly high … Vapes (also known as electronic cigarettes) may help to reduce smoking prevalence by offering people who smoke a less …
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  • Physical activity or nutrition interventions: which can improve population health the most and save the most health dollars?

    … We gave a presentation to Members of Parliament last week on taxes and subsidies on … public health research required to answer this properly! But in general terms, and for the types of interventions we … widespread diet interventions (say), this will greatly reduce disease rates meaning that (some) of the benefits of a …
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  • The hardening hypothesis for smoking – but does the evidence point to “softening” in NZ?

    … smokers will be the more addicted ones who are less likely to quit. But does the NZ evidence support this? This blog considers … with mental health conditions). The net effect should be a reduced rate of quitting among the smoking population over …
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  • The draft NZ Health Strategy: Will it enable New Zealanders to “live well, stay well and get well”?

    … It includes phrases like a system moving “from treatment to prevention”. But how does it fare when considering the science around … out population health goals and proposes strategies to reduce their impact (2) (see Table below). The number one …
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Public Health Expert Briefing (ISSN 2816-1203)