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Aims: To describe the prevalence of obesity and the body fat distribution of New Zealanders. To discuss this in the context of the coronary heart disease risk., Methods: Body weight and height, body mass index (BMI), waist:hip ratio (WHR) and six skinfold measurements were determined for 3204 randomly selected New Zealanders who responded to an invitation to a health check (response rate 56%)., Results: In the study sample BMI generally increased with age. Fifty five percent of men and 38 per cent of women aged 18-64 had a BMI exceeding 25, and of these 13 per cent and 10 per cent were obese (BMI > 30). WHR was greater in men than in women of all ages, and a third of the men and a quarter of the women had values exceeding 0.9 and 0.8 respectively. Central skinfold measurements (subscapular, suprailiac and abdominal) were lowest in young men, but rose markedly with age and were similar to women above age 35. Limb skinfolds were lower in men., Conclusions: This survey indicates that a large percentage of New Zealanders are overweight or obese and their excess body fat tends to be centrally distributed, especially in men. Obesity is thus a significant health problem in New Zealand.

Objectives: the study aimed to determine age and gender specific levels of lipids and lipoproteins in New Zealanders. Participants were randomly selected from 20 general electoral roles, and from a sample of 15-18 year olds., Methods: plasma cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured in 2941 men and women aged 15-99 years., Results: mean (SD) plasma cholesterol was 6.0 (1.3) mmol/L in men and 6.1 (1.3) mmol/L in women. There was a marked variation in total cholesterol and calculated LDL cholesterol with age, and the pattern was different in men and women. There was also a considerable regional variation; levels tending to increase from north to south. Overall mean cholesterol levels adjusted for age and geographical distribution were 5.8 and 6.0 mmol/L for men and women respectively., Conclusion: the fact that approximately a third of the adult population in New Zealand under 65 years have cholesterol levels greater than 6.5 mmol/L indicates the need for effective diet and lifestyle changes to reduce the high rates of CHD.

The problems associated with obesity are brought into sharp focus at the time of a surgical operation. The anaesthetist has a major role to play in preventing serious complications and must be aware of the many potential hazards. Extra vigilance is required to guide these patients safely through the perioperative period.

1. When lead is administered in drinking-water iron-deficient rats retain more Pb than Fe-replete rats (Six & Goyer, 1972; Klauder & Petering, 1975). In the present study the relationship between the absorption of Pb and Fe was investigated. 2. Adult male rats were transfered to a milk-based diet fed with or without supplementary Fe (180 mg Fe/kg as ferrous sulphate). After 7--9 d the absorption of duodenally-administered 203Pb and 59Fe was measured as uptake of radioactivity from the gastrointestinal tract after 90 min. 59Fe absorption was increased in rats given the unsupplemented diet for 7 d and was further increased in rats kept on the diet for up to 7 weeks. 203Pb absorption was not consistently increased by either short- or long-term Fe deprivation. 3. Much of the 203Pb in homogenates of the upper small intestine was bound to soluble protein of which up to 85% was dialysable. In contrast little 59Fe was dialysable. Only a small proportion of the soluble musosal Pb was associated with ferritin during gel-filtration chromatography although 203Pb precipitated together with carrier rat-liver ferritin with an antibody to rat-liver ferritin. 4. There appeared to be no direct relationship between the transfer of Fe and Pb across the small intestine of the adult rat.