The Cook Islands health secretary says it's time the country faced up to the fact it has a serious obesity epidemic.
Aumea Herman said efforts to tackle the problem were ramping up while announcing a water-only policy in all the ministry's workplaces.
Dr Herman said about one in every three adults are estimated to be affected by non-communicable diseases.
The most common NCDs in the Cook Islands are diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
