Looking after the planet takes care of our health, too

New AIA NZ report examines how the environment causes disease, but also how lifestyle habits are our best defence.

The ties between New Zealanders’ health and our environment have been revealed in a new report released today by AIA NZ: The Environment and our Health.

Increasing temperatures and air pollution, the rapid pace of urbanisation, and our shifting diets, are all key contributors to both physical and mental wellbeing.

In fact, findings show that our interaction with the environment is one of five modifiable behavioural risk factors that collectively contribute to more than 90% of deaths in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, this requires both an individual and collective response.

Len Elikhis, AIA NZ Chief Product and Investments Officer, says the connection between the environment and New Zealanders’ health is both far-reaching and concerning. 

“We often think about climate change as a global challenge, but our day-to-day interaction with our environment can have a significant impact on our health too – the air we breathe, the food and water we consume, and the amount of time we spend in nature,” says Len.

“Environmental events such as the Upper North Island floods, Cyclone Gabrielle, and the Canterbury wildfire have had a devastating impact on the wellbeing of our communities. 

“AIA knows we cannot thrive in an unhealthy environment, and the environment cannot thrive when lifestyle behaviours aren’t sustainable.

“Outlining this inter-connectedness between the environment and our health outcomes, and how we can take steps to correct the issue, is what AIA’s Environment and our Health report aims to do.”

Four environmental factors harming our health

There are four main environmental components which impact our health: climate change, air pollution, agriculture and food production, and urbanisation and the built environment.

• Climate change represents a serious global health threat. It directly affects mental and physical health through more severe or regular storms, droughts, floods, and heatwaves, while also indirectly affecting health through ecological change, water quality, and land-use change. It also impacts our mental health, with evidence suggesting that extreme weather events can trigger illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. The economic costs of responding to the challenges of climate change also need to be carefully considered to ensure a fair and just transition that does not further disadvantage financially vulnerable people. 
• Air pollution is second only to smoking when it comes to causing NCDs such as cancer and heart disease. Air pollution can be caused naturally through the likes of volcanic activity, or caused by human activity such as use of fossil fuels, industrial emissions, and land clearing. 
• Agriculture and food production is a driver of climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater use, and land-system change. The most common environmental issues in the food system relate to food processing loss, food wastage and packaging, energy efficiency, transportation of food, water consumption and waste management. Dietary shifts to more processed foods also contribute to the environmental impact of food production. However, it’s worth noting New Zealand’s meat and dairy production is generally one of most carbon efficient productions globally.
• Urbanisation, or the built environments we live in, can affect our physical and mental health. It’s anticipated that by 2050, 75 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. Increased sedentary behaviour through office work and commuting in private vehicles can reduce fitness and can negatively impact mental wellbeing, while green and blue spaces and increased mobility through public transport can create positive impacts. 

There is some good news

Many threads tie the environment to public health, but the upside is that through small, healthy lifestyle changes, not only can we improve our health, but we’re looking after the planet, too.

“At AIA NZ, we believe it’s our social responsibility to move away from simply being a payer of claims, to partnering with New Zealanders to help them live Healthier, Longer, Better lives,” Len continues.

“We want to increase peoples’ control over their own health by engaging and empowering individuals and communities to choose healthy behaviours that reduce the risk of NCDs later in life. 

“If we each take small steps over time to improve our environment and our health, then we can create cumulative change and have a significant positive impact.

“Central to AIA NZ’s preventative healthcare focus is AIA Vitality, our market-leading health and wellbeing programme. Through AIA Vitality members are nudged to make lifestyle changes with the aim of decreasing their risk of developing NCDs. Living a healthy lifestyle can be expensive and AIA Vitality can also help to reduce these costs through discounted partner offers and rewards.

“We also practice what we preach at AIA NZ through our comprehensive environment, social, and governance strategy to reduce our own environmental impact business-wide.”

Taking a New Zealand perspective

Consumer research¹ conducted last year by AIA demonstrates the extent to which environmental factors are impacting our everyday lifestyles. 

Half of respondents said they would likely reduce sun exposure if it greatly lowered the chance of developing skin cancer later in life.²

“It’s well known that NCDs are worsened by climate change. Take skin cancer as a New Zealand example. We have one of the worst skin cancer rates in the world exacerbated by a reduced ozone layer caused by historic chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) emissions,” Len notes.

“We all know this yet one in three respondents admitted they get sunburnt at least once every year.³ In fact, by 2025 the total cost of skin cancer treatment is expected to increase by more than $100 million to $295 million.” 

Regarding air pollution, the number of people living in mouldy or damp homes in New Zealand is a key concern. 

“The 2018 Census recorded nearly quarter of a million Kiwi children living in conditions that can cause respiratory problems.⁴ Respiratory diseases account for one in ten of all hospital stays in New Zealand,⁵ with one third of that number being children.” 

When it comes to food production and eating patterns, more than a quarter of New Zealanders get takeaways once per week,⁶ and nearly six percent consider less than 20 percent of the meals they consume to be healthy.⁷ However, if we shifted to diets with more fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and unsaturated oils, globally we could reduce deaths by a fifth. 

"These insights demonstrate there are small improvements all New Zealanders can make to help both themselves and their families be better off for the long-term.

“If we can get New Zealanders to build more healthy habits over time, we can reduce the incidence of health problems associated with environmental risk factors. In turn, we will create a healthier country and a health system built on prevention as opposed to treatment.

“It’s important to acknowledge that living a healthy lifestyle comes at a cost which may be a challenge for New Zealanders whose budgets are already stretched. More expansive and creative government policy is needed to help lower the barriers to living a healthy lifestyle; by recognising the down-stream costs of disease – such as medical care, lost days of productivity, and reduced tax revenue, which are currently borne by society at large,” concludes Len.

To understand more about TheEnvironment and our Health, the full report can be found here. It builds on AIA’s previous research, 5590+. This research, rooted in findings originally founded by the United Nations, demonstrates how 90% of the world’s deaths are caused by five lifestyle factors that contribute to five deadly diseases, known as NCDs. 

Please also see our infographics below:

• A healthy planet is good for our health too
• Simple steps to look after the Environment and our Health.

Footnotes:

1. On behalf of AIA NZ, Pure Profile surveyed nearly 1,600 New Zealanders on their knowledge, experience, and familiarity with the country’s most common non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and how they might change their behaviours if they knew it could reduce the chance of developing NCDs
2. 51.3% of respondents selected ‘quite likely’ when asked how likely they would be to reduce sun exposure if it reduced the chance of developing an NCD later in life.
3. When asked how many times they’ve been sunburnt, 8% of respondents selected ‘I get sunburnt multiple times per year’ and 28.8% of respondents selected ‘I get sunburnt approximately once per year’.
4. The 2018 Census recorded more than 280,000 children in Aotearoa who lived in damp housing, and 237,000 in housing with mould.
   Barnard, L T, Zhang J (2020). The impact of respiratory disease in New Zealand. Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ.
5. Ibid.
6. 26.6% of respondents selected ‘once per week’ when asked how often they get takeaways.
7. 3% of respondents selected ‘10% or less’ and 2.6% of respondents selected ’11-20%’ when asked what percentage of meals they eat would they consider healthy.