A current New Zealand based health issue that interrelates with environmental factors is diabetes. Diabetes is one of the most accountable reasons for death in New Zealand it has become New Zealand's greatest and most instantaneous health issue in New Zealand. More than 240,000 people in New Zealand are found to have Diabetes and the number is increasing. The amount of people diagnosed with diabetes is largely more probable to occur in Maori and Pacific Islanders. Diabetes is a disease that can occur due to the blood sugar levels in the body not being under the correct control (Ministry of Health, 2013). There are many environmental factors that have an influence on human health in relation to diabetes such as unhealthful food, food marketing, urban design, socioeconomic living status and barriers to physical activity. .
An unhealthy diet can be the cause of the development of diabetes. Unhealthy eating habits puts a person at higher risk of acquiring diabetes type two as it leads to obesity that is one of the main drivers of diabetes. According to Sue Kedgley (2007) Obesity "is the main preventable cause of type 2 diabetes, so an effective strategy to reduce obesity will also bring about a significant reduction in type 2 diabetes." (p. 3). This backs up the fact that unhealthful eating interrelates with the health issue diabetes. Exorbitant weight gain is affiliated to diabetes because the consumption of bad foods with immense quantities of sugars and fats is what leads to weight gain that in turn can result in a diabetic condition. The junk food that is widely endorsed and consumed by a large majority of the New Zealand population today consists of high levels of calories that are more than a person needs coming from sugar and fats, these junk foods lack compensating nutritional value as they provide insignificant amounts of vitamins and minerals. The reason weight is a risk factor towards developing diabetes is because carrying too much weight consequently leads to the bodies blood sugar levels not operating as they should this is due to the hormone insulin becoming resistant to the bodies cells this causes sugar to remain in the blood.