Search

Objective: To determine the geographical location and characteristics of on-demand delivery services operating in New Zealand., Methods: We systematically searched the web and application (app) stores for on-demand services offering rapid delivery of food, alcohol, cigarettes or vaping products in New Zealand and mapped their geographic location as of May 2021. Using desktop review, data on service characteristics were collected and stratified including: types of commodities available, promotion strategies, and the legal aspects of access to age-restricted items., Results: On-demand services for food, alcohol and nicotine products operate across urban and rural New Zealand. All services offered personal memberships and 97% used promotions. All services offering restricted items had an age verification process, however, only 87% had birth date entry and 73% had an 18+ message pop-up on website entry. Only 60% of services appeared to have number limits on restricted items., Conclusions: Much of New Zealand is serviced by on-demand delivery services., Implications for Public Health: The trend towards on-demand delivery services may increase unhealthy food, alcohol and nicotine-related harms and it undermines current government actions, e.g. the Smokefree 2025 goal. This research informs policy to reduce the future health burden., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Objective: Abuse of inhalants containing the volatile solvent toluene is a significant public health issue, especially for adolescent and Indigenous communities. Adolescent inhalant abuse can lead to chronic health issues and may initiate a trajectory towards further drug use. Identification of at-risk individuals is difficult and diagnostic tools are limited primarily to measurement of serum toluene. Our objective was to identify the effects of adolescent inhalant abuse on subsequent drug use and growth parameters, and to test the predictive power of growth parameters as a diagnostic measure for inhalant abuse., Methods: We retrospectively analysed drug use and growth data from 118 Indigenous males; 86 chronically sniffed petrol as adolescents., Results: Petrol sniffing was the earliest drug used (mean 13 years) and increased the likelihood and earlier use of other drugs. Petrol sniffing significantly impaired height and weight and was associated with meeting 'failure to thrive' criteria; growth diagnostically out-performed serum toluene., Conclusions: Adolescent inhalant abuse increases the risk for subsequent and earlier drug use. It also impairs growth such that individuals meet 'failure to thrive' criteria, representing an improved diagnostic model for inhalant abuse. Implications for Public Health: Improved diagnosis of adolescent inhalant abuse may lead to earlier detection and enhanced health outcomes., (© 2016 The Authors.)