New Zealand is looking at a podium finish in the fat stakes.

At the Tauranga City Council's projects and monitoring committee meeting on Monday, Sport BOP CEO Wayne Werder said New Zealand is in the top three of about 30 countries in the obesity/overweight statistics.

He also said the country's ageing population is threatening to flood the hospitals unless they can be kept active for longer.

'Sport and activity doesn't necessarily extend length of life, but it does keep people out of hospital,” says Wayne.

He made the comment when presenting a six month report on the relationship agreement between the city council and Sport BOP.

The council supports Sport BOP to the tune of $277,258, inflation adjusted, each year with the current agreement expiring in June 2014.

Sport BOP provides a sport and recreation hub for Tauranga uniting codes and coordinating negotiations over playing space.

Sport BOP also has a role in coordinating the health management of an ageing and increasingly obese population.

At present it is involved with Green Prescriptions, receiving some government funding for finding suitable sport and recreation programmes for people referred by a doctor or practice nurse.

A Green Prescription is a written referral from a doctor or practice nurse recommending that a person be more physically active to improve their health.

Those most likely to benefit are people with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, depression, obesity, arthritis, some respiratory conditions or at high risk of cardio vascular disease.

'The doctor writes a prescription for exercise and we would take these people, do an assessment and offer various options on how they can get active,” says Wayne.

'This is about getting more people into sport and recreation; the first step is getting them off the couch to start with.”