Obesity increase rate begins slowing

New Zealand has become one of the first developed countries in which obesity increases are slowing, senior health officials said yesterday, attributing the achievement to government programs that promote healthier diets and lifestyles.

More than half of New Zealand's 4 million people are either overweight or obese, including more than 30 percent of its children, according to a Health Ministry survey released yesterday.

The survey, titled Portrait of Health, found a reduced growth in the rate of obesity from 2003 to 2007.