Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T03:56:59.127Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nutrition and the burden of disease in New Zealand: 1997–2011

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Niki Stefanogiannis ,
Carlene MM Lawes ,
Maria Turley ,
Martin Tobias ,
Stephen Vander Hoorn ,
Cliona Ni Mhurchu  and
Anthony Rodgers
Niki Stefanogiannis
Affiliation:
Public Health Intelligence, Ministry of Health, PO Box 5013, Wellington, New Zealand
Carlene MM Lawes
Affiliation:
Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Maria Turley*
Affiliation:
Public Health Intelligence, Ministry of Health, PO Box 5013, Wellington, New Zealand
Martin Tobias
Affiliation:
Public Health Intelligence, Ministry of Health, PO Box 5013, Wellington, New Zealand
Stephen Vander Hoorn
Affiliation:
Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Cliona Ni Mhurchu
Affiliation:
Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Anthony Rodgers
Affiliation:
Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Auckland, New Zealand
*
*Corresponding author: Email maria_turley@moh.govt.nz
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective

To estimate the burden of disease due to selected nutrition-related risk factors (high total blood cholesterol, high systolic blood pressure, high body mass index (BMI) and inadequate vegetable and fruit intake) in 1997, as well as the burden that could potentially be avoided in 2011 if small, favourable changes in the current risk factor distribution were to occur.

Design

Data on risk factor levels, disease burden and risk associations were combined using comparative risk assessment methodology, a systematic approach to estimating both attributable and avoidable burden of disease. Disease outcomes assessed varied according to risk factor and included ischaemic heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus and selected cancers.

Setting

New Zealand.

Results

Approximately 4500 deaths (17% of all deaths) in 1997 were attributable to high cholesterol, 3500 (13%) to high blood pressure, 3000 (11%) to high BMI and 1500 (6%) to inadequate vegetable and fruit intake. Taking prevalence overlap into account, these risk factors were estimated jointly to contribute to approximately 11 000 (40%) deaths annually in New Zealand. Approximately 300 deaths due to each risk factor could potentially be avoided in 2011 if modest changes were made to each risk factor distribution.

Conclusions

High cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI, as well as inadequate vegetable and fruit intake, are major modifiable causes of death in New Zealand. Small changes in the population distribution of these risk factors could have a major impact on population health within a decade.

Keywords

NutritionNew ZealandMortality
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , June 2005 , pp. 395 - 401
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

References

1World Health Organization (WHO). Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life. World Health Report 2002. Geneva: WHO, 2002.Google Scholar
2New Zealand Health Information Service. Mortality and Demographic Data 1997. Wellington: Ministry of Health, 2000.Google Scholar
3World Health Organization (WHO). Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. Geneva: Food and Agriculture Organization/WHO, 2003.Google Scholar
4Rose, G. Sick individuals and sick populations. International Journal of Epidemiology 1985; 14: 32–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Mathers, CD, Vos, T, Lopez, AD, Salomon, J, Ezzati, M. National Burden of Disease Studies: A Practical Guide. Global Program on Evidence for Health Policy. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2001.Google Scholar
6Ministry of Health and University of Auckland. Nutrition and the Burden of Disease: New Zealand 1997–2011. Wellington: Ministry of Health, 2003.Google Scholar
7Ezzati, M, Lopez, A, Rodgers, A, Vander Hoorn, S, Murray, CJL, and the Comparative Risk Assessment Collaborating Group. Selected major risk factors and global and regional burden of disease. Lancet 2002; 360: 1347–60.Google Scholar
8Murray, CJL, Lopez, AD. On the comparable quantification of health risks: lessons from the global burden of disease study. Epidemiology 1999; 10: 594–605.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Russell, DG, Parnell, WR, Wilson, NC, Faed, JM, Ferguson, EL, Herbison, P, et al. NZ Food: NZ People: Key Results of the 1997 National Nutrition Survey. Report for the Ministry of Health. Dunedin: LINZ® Activity and Health Research Unit, University of Otago, 1999.Google Scholar
10Trye, P, Jackson, R, Stewart, A, Lay Yee, R, Beaglehole, R. Trends and determinants of blood pressure in Auckland, New Zealand 1982–94. New Zealand Medical Journal 1996; 109: 179–81.Google Scholar
11Lawes, CMM, Vander Hoorn, S, Law, MR, Elliot, P, MacMahon, S, Rodgers, A. High blood pressure. In: Ezzati, M, Lopez, A, Rodgers, A, Murray, CJL, eds. Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004; 281–390.Google Scholar
12Lawes, CMM, Vander Hoorn, S, Law, MR, Rodgers, A. High cholesterol. In: Ezzati, M, Lopez, A, Rodgers, A, Murray, CJL, ed. Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004; 391–496.Google Scholar
13James, WPT, Jackson-Leach, R, Ni Mhurchu, C, Kalamara, E, Shayeghi, M, Rigby, NJ, et al. Overweight and obesity (high body mass index). In: Ezzati, M, Lopez, A, Rodgers, A, Murray, CJL, eds. Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004; 497–596.Google Scholar
14Lock, K, Pomerleau, J, Causer, L, McKee, M. Low fruit and vegetable consumption. In: Ezzati, M, Lopez, A, Rodgers, A, Murray, CJL, eds. Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors. Geneva World Health Organization, 2004; 597–728.Google Scholar
15World Health Organization (WHO). Comparative Risk Assessment Working Group. Comparative Risk Assessment: Interim Guidelines (Draft). Geneva: WHO, 2000.Google Scholar
16Clayton, D, Schifflers, E. Models for temporal variation in cancer rates. II: Age–period–cohort models. Statistics in Medicine 1987; 6: 469–81.Google Scholar
17Ministry of Health. Cancer in New Zealand: Trends and Projections. Occasional Bulletin No. 15. Wellington: Ministry of Health 2002.Google Scholar
18Vander Hoorn, S, Ezzati, M, Rodgers, A, Lopez, AD, Murray, CJL. Estimating attributable burden of disease from exposure and hazard data. In: Ezzati, M, Lopez, A, Rodgers, A, Murray, CJL, eds. Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004; 2129–40.Google Scholar
19Miettinen, OS. Proportion of disease caused or prevented by a given exposure, trait or intervention. American Journal of Epidemiology 1974; 99: 325–32.Google Scholar
20Walter, SD. The estimation and interpretation of attributable risk in health research. Biometrics 1976; 32: 829–49.Google Scholar
21Ezzati, M, Vander Hoorn, S, Rodgers, A, Lopez, AD, Mathers, CD, Murray, CJL, et al. Estimates of global and regional potential health gains from reducing multiple major risk factors. Lancet 2003; 362: 271–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Ministry of Health. Our Health, Our Future. Wellington: Ministry of Health, 1999.Google Scholar
23National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2001. Hyattsville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002.Google Scholar
24Department of Health. Health Survey for England, 1998. Cardiovascular Disease. London: The Stationery Office, 1999.Google Scholar
25Wilson, M, Harding, S. Assessing the Effectiveness of the 5+ A Day Programme. Auckland: Research International New Zealand, 1999.Google Scholar
26Mahapatra, P. Andhra Pradesh Burden of Disease Study: Results and Important Causes of Disease Burden. Andhra Pradesh: Institute of Health Services, 2001.Google Scholar
27Diderichsen, F, Dahlgren, G, Vagero, D. Determinants of the Burden of Disease in the European Union. Stockholm: National Institute of Public Health, 1997.Google Scholar
28Mathers, C, Vos, T, Stevenson, C. The Burden of Disease and Injury in Australia. Report No. PHE 17 Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1999.Google Scholar
29Parnell, WR, Reid, J, Wilson, NC, McKenzie, J, Russell, DG. Food security: is New Zealand a land of plenty? New Zealand Medical Journal 2001; 114: 141–5.Google Scholar