The nutritional problem that is affecting the well-being of New Zealand society is childhood obesity. About 11% of the child population is obese and about 21% is overweight. This is a problem as New Zealand has the fifth highest rate of childhood obesity. Explanation of the nutritional problem For an individual to be obese he or she must have an abnormal or excessive amount of fat that presents a risk to the individual's health. Body mass index (BMI) is used to help understand whether an individual is underweight, at a healthy weight, overweight, obese, or extremely obese. BMI is calculated by dividing the person's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height in meters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay For the individual to be considered obese, their body mass index is 30 or more according to the World Health Organization. Obesity in New Zealand children is high: one in nine children is now classified as "obese", while three in ten adults are obese. New Zealand has the fifth highest rate of childhood obesity in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is bad as there are thirty-five other countries besides the organization. In New Zealand approximately 11% of the child population is considered obese. According to the Ministry of Health, the rate of childhood obesity increased from 8% in 2006/2007 to 12% in 2016/2017. While a further 21% of children are overweight but not obese. Who is affected by the problem? The individuals and groups that are affected by the obesity problem are children, family, community, there are also three different ethnic groups that are mainly affected by this problem. Families and children are affected by the problem not only because they physically have the weight problem, but also because of the other types of health problems that come with it. Health problems that can result from a severely overweight individual are the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, having high blood pressure and they could also develop mental health problems such as anxiety, these are not always just physical illnesses. If a young child develops a secondary disease such as type 2 diabetes, he or she may need help from family around him or her to manage it. The community is affected by the fact that 42% of New Zealand's population is obese, which can lead to hospitals treating more patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery or other types of surgeries that can help an individual lose weight. Gastric bypass surgery is a type of surgery that takes a lot of time and money, which explains why not much is done and why it is offered to people over the age of 18, this can lead to hospitals turning to the Ministry of Health. health to get more funding to be able to do more surgeries, which hurts taxpayers. The three different ethnic groups affected by the problem of extreme overweight are Maori, Pacific and European. Maori and Pacific people have a higher risk of developing obesity than Europeans. 18% of Māori children and 29% of Pacifica children are considered obese. They are affected mainly due to environmental and biological factors. Environmental and biological factors are what they eat, how fast their metabolism is, what the city's financial situation is like, how many fast food restaurants are around, and what kind of area they live in. All of these can affect the individual. of becoming overweight or obese. The values ​​of all groups combined may be affected by whether a child or other individual is obese or overweight or.