Call for cross-border plan to tackle obesity

The obesity “epidemic” in Ireland can only be tackled by a co-ordinated cross-border approach to encourage healthy eating and exercise, a conference was told today.

‘Tackling Obesity Together – Every Step Counts’ heard that half of all Irish people are now overweight and one in eight is obese – a 30% increase since 2000.

Junior Minister for Health and Children Sean Power said that targeted Government policies were needed to change people’s lifestyles – just like the plastic bag levy and the smoking ban.

He called on specific interest groups like policy-makers, Government departments, the food industry and the leisure industry to develop a consistent, integrated approach to preventing and tackling obesity.

He added: “We must harness support and commitment across all sectors that have an influence on the issue of obesity.”

Today’s conference in Co Cavan was organised by the Health Promotion Unit of the Department of Health and Children and the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland.

It heard that an All-Ireland survey of 20,000 children found that obesity levels in children has tripled and the number of overweight children has doubled in the last 10 years.

The conference aimed to cement the North/South partnership and to agree on policies to support best practice.

The conference was attended by health experts and policy advisors including those in primary care, health promotion, education, agriculture and the food industry.

Amongst the areas covered were childhood obesity, sugary drinks, supplements, ineffective policies, lessons learned in other countries and portion size.

Dr Brian Gaffney of the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland said obesity was now at “epidemic proportions”.

He warned: “If action isn’t taken soon to address this problem we will be wiping out all the medical advances made over the past few decades.”

A keynote speaker said that Europe was fast approaching the obesity trends in America where around 20% of children aged five to 17, are overweight or obese.

Dr Tim Lobstein of the International Obesity Task Force said such children have a much higher risk of contracting a broad range of debilitating diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and some cancers.

He explained: “The surge of obesity among children will result in a global explosion of illnesses that will drain economies, create enormous suffering and cause millions of premature deaths.”

The conference also heard that:

:: Advertising of some foods could contribute to excess weight and obesity and promoted a very distorted diet. In the UK 70 – 90% of food advertising is for foods high in sugars, salt or fat.

:: Portion sizes in supermarkets and restaurants have increased dramatically over the past 10 years. The standard size of a bottle of a well-known sugar cola was 8 fluid oz, it is now over double that size, at 20 fluid oz.

:: It is now cheaper to eat oils, sugars and starches rather than healthier foods like fruit and vegetables.