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Background: Publicly funded bariatric surgery in New Zealand (NZ) is steadily on the rise to meet the obesity epidemic. Ethnic disparities in obesity rates exist in NZ with Māori and Pacific people having three to five times higher rates than all other ethnic groups within NZ. Ethnic disparities in rates of bariatric surgery have been reported internationally. This research sought to describe rates of publically funded bariatric surgery by self‐identified ethnicity in NZ. Methods: Using reported census and hospitalization discharge data from Statistics NZ and the NZ Ministry of Health, we calculated estimate rates of publicly funded bariatric surgery in the morbidly obese population from June 2009 to July 2014. Results: The average number of publicly funded bariatric procedures performed per 1000 morbidly obese patients from June 2009 to July 2014 was 3.0 for European, 1.4 for Māori and 0.7 for Pacific ethnicities. Conclusion: While these data should be interpreted cautiously due to data limitations, the estimated rates may indicate that bariatric services are currently being provided inequitably across the major ethnic groups within NZ. We suggest that further studies should be performed to explore potential patient, healthcare provider and system‐level factors that may contribute to ethnic disparities in the rates of publicly funded bariatric surgery in NZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bariatric surgery, in recent times, has gained media attention that has influenced individual, healthcare provider and wider societal attitudes towards bariatric surgery. Studies exploring public and media levels of interest in bariatric surgery have been performed overseas but studies within New Zealand (NZ) are scarce. Analysis of Google Trends data may be a useful source of information in investigating public interest levels in bariatric surgery. We aimed to analyse Google Trends information on Internet searches in NZ and to explore sequential relationships with relevant changes in policy. Methods: Key search terms for our Google Trends query were retrieved by independently reviewing news articles relating to bariatric surgery in NZ published between January 2007 and December 2017 and following a brainstorming session. Trend analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel 14.7.2. Data were captured for both NZ and worldwide search interests in Google Trends. Results: Trend analyses showed that total search volumes for 'lap band' and 'lap band surgery' declined while 'gastric sleeve' and 'gastric sleeve surgery' increased exponentially over the 10‐year period. Furthermore, search interests for key terms in NZ were comparable with those worldwide. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that search interests related to bariatric surgery in NZ mirror those worldwide. This includes the popularity of some bariatric procedures over others. The use of Google Trends may provide us with an additional tool to evaluate public interest levels related to bariatric surgery in NZ and could add value in examining the socio‐cultural and political contexts of obesity and bariatric surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]