Parents could be ‘burying’ their young

Parents could end up burying their youngsters unless the growing problem of childhood obesity is tackled, Dr James Reilly, the health minister has warned.

A 64-point action plan to make Ireland a healthier place to live by 2025 has been unveiled by the Government to improve the wellbeing of future generations.

Obesity, mental health, smoking, alcohol and drugs are among the key areas to be overseen by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy, to be chaired by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Dr Reilly warned that two in every three adults and 20% of all children are overweight or obese, which can lead to dementia, stroke and diabetes.

“If we do not tackle this problem we could very well be the first generation to bury our children,” he said.

“That’s an appalling legacy to think about. We must take action and Healthy Ireland shows us the path to addressing this most serious issue.”

Health chiefs revealed 18 months of groundwork have gone into the Healthy Ireland initiative, which includes 64 actions under six themes and aims to involve all government departments, local authorities, public-sector organisations, communities and individuals.

Its goals are to increase the proportion of people who are healthy; reduce health inequalities; protect the public from threats to health and wellbeing; and create an environment where every individual and sector of society can play their part.

It is claimed the plan can be delivered through the leadership of the cabinet committee, rigorous planning, reporting and evaluation, and by devising a plan to increase levels of activity across the population.

Cross-department measures being mooted include a daily menu with healthy and cheap foods on the Department of Agriculture website and promoting safe places to exercise through the Department of Environment and local councils, Dr Reilly said.

He stood over plans to stop alcohol firms sponsoring sports events, said he wants each cigarette to cost €1 each “so people would think long and hard before they inhale long and hard” and insisted his idea of a sugar tax has not gone away.

The health minister also said he will bring a memorandum to Government shortly to provide for the introduction of plain packaging on tobacco products.

He added that under the proposal, cigarette packets would no longer have branded logos on them but would contain the graphic images and health warnings that already exist, with a only small area of the packet allowed for the brand name.

He also maintained it was the right time to have the plan in place despite Government and households having to cut costs.

“We want to empower people, we want to empower patients with more information, more transparency, more accessibility,” he said.

“I think during the celtic tiger we lost our way and got totally focused in on the cost and price of everything, and we forgot the value of things. The value of family, the value of friends, the value of community, the value of your health,” he said.