Science Media Centre

A recent study suggests that historical milk-in-schools programmes – similar to the planned initiative announced by Fonterra today – may have played a role in preventing colon cancer in New Zealand. Today dairy cooperative Fonterra announced they will be launching a free milk in schools pilot programme, covering 110 schools in Northland during the first [...]

Christmas is coming, and while for many New Zealanders the festive season does involve a feast, there will be many others struggling to feed their family even the most basic meal. Food insecurity is on the increase. Results from the latest Adult Nutrition Survey published earlier this year showed that  from 1997 to 2008/09 the [...]

New Zealand’s latest nutrition survey shows the nation’s obesity epidemic surged ahead over the past dozen years — even though the population’s energy intake levels have dropped. Researchers who conducted the 2008-2009 Adult Nutrition Survey (NZANS) say they suspect this means many people are exercising less than they did when the comparable 1997 National Nutrition [...]

With record inflation in New Zealand, growing unease about the price of milk and rising food costs globally, nutrition experts are increasingly concerned about the impact of food insecurity on the most vulnerable members of society. Food insecurity is a lack of access to safe, nutritious and affordable food and according to research from the [...]

Researchers investigating effects of maternal diet on children’s health at the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute are warning pregnant mums to be aware of how much fructose they consume. Fructose is a type of sugar that naturally occurs in fruit, vegetables and honey — but is increasingly added to a wide range of processed foods, [...]

As summer holidays approach — and the appeal of fad diets grows amongst people aiming to slim down quickly — nutrition experts are warning about the health consequences of the latest fad to gain popularity. A new position statement outlining concerns from dietitians about the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) diet, and other fads, has been [...]

Ellie Constantine writes in the Otago Daily Times about research which suggests that poor dietary choices have more to do with the affordability of healthy food than access or price. The research, from New Zealand and Australia, shows that poor families spend a far larger proportion of their income on food (about 30%), and consequently [...]

As if we don’t have enough stress in our lives, now there’s a new one – food stress. But what’s the cause and who is suffering from it? One of the key topics for discussion at a national conference being held in Dunedin next week (1-3 September) by Dietitians New Zealand will be food security. [...]

Research from the University of Otago shows that it’s not just what children are eating at school that is of concern. A study has revealed that children are eating as, or more, unhealthily outside of school than in school itself. An excerpt: (read in full here) “”Children are more likely to have hot chips and [...]

The 60 Minutes programme last Wednesday and again last night featured a story about former All Black Captain Taine Randell, who returned to his home town of Flaxmere in Hawkes Bay to promote a range of community based initiatives to help improve the health and wellbeing of the local population. One initiative was to promote [...]