Tipping the scales: Child obesity levels triple
The staggering increase in the number of overweight children is recorded in the preliminary findings of one of the most extensive all-island surveys which set out to look at oral health.
As many as 20,000 school children - junior infants, second class, sixth class and junior certs - had their weight and height measured during a visit to the dentist. Dr Helen Whelton, a member of the National Taskforce on Obesity, and principal investigator in the study, said they were stunned by the outcome.
“The findings are quite horrendous, really, we do have a problem. Preliminary signs are 30% of children are overweight and 15% obese - this is up from 15% overweight in 1990 and 5% obese.”
Speaking as a member of the obesity taskforce, Dr Whelton said there was grave disappointment the new Health Minister, Mary Harney, had decided to delegate responsibility for tackling obesity to a junior minister. Former Health Minister Micheál Martin had recognised it as “one of Ireland’s most serious health problems” and after smoking, it was to be his next major campaign.
“It is a concern that the new Minister for Health has handed it (obesity portfolio) over to a junior minister. The thought of what is down the road is horrendous in terms of heart disease, diabetes and a variety of associated health problems,” Dr Whelton said.
Labour Health spokesperson Liz McManus described the Tánaiste’s action as “cowardly”.
“There is no comparison between a junior minister and a Cabinet minister having charge of an issue. The Cabinet minister sits at the Cabinet table, is much more powerful and can ensure resources are put in place. A junior minister is very limited in what he can do.”
A Department of Health spokesperson confirmed Junior Minister Seán Power has been given responsibility for tackling obesity. He said it was still “a priority health promotion area”.
However obesity taskforce chairman John Treacy, chief executive of the Irish Sports Council, defended Ms Harney saying there was “no question of the work of the taskforce being demoted”. He said the taskforce hoped to publish its recommendations by the end of the year and would be taking a “cross-sectoral approach” to obesity, including involving the fast food industry.
Last month, a survey of senior infants in primary schools in Leitrim and Cavan found a quarter were overweight or obese and 8% of five to seven year-olds were obese. A study in the South Eastern Health Board had similar findings.
The latest survey - The North South Study of Children’s Oral Health, overseen by the UCC-based Cork Dental School and due for publication before the end of the year - is equally shocking. “It will be important information - the report is likely to flag the need for preventative action because obese children are likely to become obese adults,” Dr Whelton said.
Wide-ranging measures were needed to tackle the problem, Dr Whelton said, from banning vending machines in schools, to ensuring children had somewhere to play, to proper planning.
“We need to look at the wider picture of high density housing, where there is nowhere to walk.
“We have cycle lanes which are crossed by bus lanes, making them pointless. Nowadays there is poor opportunity to develop a healthy lifestyle.
“Children don’t get the opportunity to walk to school, they can’t run in the playgrounds - it is difficult then to fit in any level of exercise,” he said.
Up to 400 children are being treated for obesity caused by overeating at the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght.
An obese child is more prone to becoming a diabetic.
Fast food chains have all increased portion size and the fast food market grew by 35% between 1998 and 2003.
A Trinity College survey found in 40 hours of children’s TV, 272 food ads were shown, 239 for high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar content, with no ads for exercise.
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