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Obesity and Type II Diabetes
NZ Health Select Committee 2006 inquiry

The New Zealand Parliament's Health Select Committee, chaired by Green MP Susan Kedgley, decided in February 2006 to conduct an Inquiry into Obesity and Type II Diabetes.

The Select Committee inquiry and the obesity topic illustrate how participation can work, how Parliament can work, how peoples' voices can be heard and many other themes in citizenship education.

The Health Committee called for submissions on this inquiry, due by 25 April 2006. The terms of reference:

To examine the causative factors likely to be driving increases in obesity and type 2 diabetes, including nutrition and physical activity;

To identify the effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes on the health of both children and adults and across ethnic and socio-economic groups and potential future costs;

To inquire into the effectiveness, particularly for children, of current obesity prevention approaches and interventions including primary prevention and screening, information provision, education, physical activity and voluntary steps taken by the food industry;

To inquire into whether additional interventions aimed and changing features of the environment that promote obesity are required;

To consider what policy or legislative mechanisms, if any, should be used to give effect to any findings of the inquiry;

To report the inquiry's findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives.

People interested in making submissions were invited to forward 25 copies of their submission by Wednesday, 26 April 2006. People who wished to appear before the committee, needed to state this clearly with their submission, providing a contact name and daytime phone number. Submissions to select committees generally become public.

For further guidance on making a submission, click here: Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee (PDF file) and here for an earlier DecisionMaker briefing from the Ofice of the Clerk.

Find out more from the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry.
For other information, such as arrangements for making a submission, contact the Clerk of the Health Select Committee