O’Reilly faces up to reality in battle against expanding waistlines

IT WAS a tweet from Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan last Sunday morning that brought the issue to my attention: “Female journalist making big issue of Health Minister James Reilly’s waistline. Would male journalist write similar of his predecessor?”

It was an interesting question given that Reilly’s predecessor was Mary Harney. She is someone who can be described accurately as large in size. She was also quite sensitive as to comments about her appearance, as is her right and is common with many other people. But are we allowed to mention that? Is it offensive to her and/or to Reilly to make any reference to their physical appearance? Or is it relevant when that person is the minister for health and supposedly in charge of encouraging healthier lifestyles as part of the overall remit of the job? Or is that part of the job at all? The piece that offended Flanagan had appeared in the Sunday Independent. A journalist had decided to “talk about the elephant in the room…our minister for health’s waistline”.

She argued that at the beginning of 2012 Reilly had said that he was “leading by example” by tackling his own weight issue. She argued that there was little evidence of success. She pointed out that the budget had not introduced a “fat tax”, special levies on unhealthy foods and sugar laden drinks, despite pleas by doctors and mounting evidence of an obesity crisis, especially among our children. She cited the addictive nature of fast food and linked excessive weight to a range of illnesses, including diabetes, heart attacks, stroke and many cancers.