Children’s hospital bans sweets from ward trolleys

HEALTH Minister Dr James Reilly appears to have an ally in his quest to cut back on Irish children’s sugar fix.

Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, has confirmed it is no longer making sweets or soft drinks available to patients on its wards in a health drive called for by consultant dental surgeons.

In recent weeks, the major national facility’s medical board has decided to stop stocking any sweets or confectionery on its “tuck shop” ward trolleys.

This is because it had concerns that fat-filled, high-sugar volume foods were effectively being “nearly wired directly to their beds”, a spokesperson explained.

Calls for the ban were first aired in a formal letter sent by a group of consultant dental surgeons at the facility to the hospital’s senior management.

The health experts specifically said providing unhealthy treats to ill children — some of whom are suffering from serious conditions — went “against the core values of the hospital, as well as placing increasing economic burden on families”.

The issue was raised during the hospital’s medical board meeting in March, which has only recently been released under the Freedom of Information Act.

After discussing the matter, the medical board put forward plans to remove sweets and other confectionery from the ward trolleys, and to reduce availability in the main shop in the hospital.

This policy has since been implemented over the subsequent months.

Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin has a long track record for promoting healthy living initiatives, including the introduction of a total smoking ban on the grounds of the facility in 2003.

This move took place before then health minister, Micheál Martin, introduced the landmark ban on smoking in any workplace in order to counteract the damage inflicted by passive smoking on workers’ health, particularly those in confined spaces such as pubs and restaurants.

However, the hospital has also been criticised in some quarters for its connection to fast-food giant McDonald’s — which sponsors facilities where the parents and loved ones of seriously ill patients can stay close to the hospital — and cereal maker Kellogg’s.

The latter company sponsors the children’s hospital’s Fun Raise for Kids fundraising campaigns.

News of the ban come at a time when health minister James Reilly is pushing for a tax to target high volumes of sugar in food principally marketed at children.

This issue, he has argued, is leading to chronic child obesity rates in Ireland.

Dr Martin is using Paris as an example for how such a policy could work.

A 19.6% tax on soft drinks, in addition to the existing 5.5% VAT rate, currently exists in Paris.