A little extra weight is something you can manage and reverse with time
The rise in vaping rates among Maori and Pacific Peoples has far outpaced the increase in vaping among other ethnic groups in Aotearoa New Zealand, with 27.7% of Maori and 21.7% of Pacific peoples reporting current vape use in 2022/23.[xxviii] This is a significant increase since the legalisation of vaping in Aotearoa New Zealand, with the proportion of Maori and Pacific peoples who were daily vapers more than quadrupling between 2019/20 and 2022/23, compared to overall vaping rates which doubled over the same period.[xxix] Between 2018/19 and 2022/23, the current adult smoking rate among Maori dropped from 33.4% to 20.2%.[xxx] More striking is the sudden drop in smoking rates among Pacific Peoples, with the number of current smokers in this community more than halving between 2018/19 and 2022/23, dropping from 24.7% to 10.3%.[xxxi] What has been the role of government in regulating safer nicotine products and vaping in particular
A spokesperson for the Consumer Brands Association, a lobbying group that represents packaged-food companies, told me that attempting to classify foods as unhealthy simply because they are processed, or demonizing food by ignoring its full nutrient content, misleads consumers and exacerbates health disparities. I reached out to the 11 food companies named in the San Francisco lawsuit and heard back from only Coca-Cola
It also appears on more charts than any other substance code: most SUD facility patients smoke or vape, and accreditation standards increasingly require facilities to address it
