Obesity Statement, Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health 2012
The levels of overweight and obesity have increased at alarming speed in recent
decades, so much so that the World Health Organisation calls it a global epidemic.
The problem has been added to in recent years as a result of our changing social,
economic and physical environment and a dramatic reduction in physical activity and
changing dietary patterns.
Across Europe childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions.
It is well known that diets excessive in energy combined with physical inactivity are
the key contributors to obesity however the relationship between these factors which
promote obesity are very complex.
In Ireland the Growing Up in Ireland Survey found that 1 in 4 children as young as
3yrs of age are overweight or obese.
Approximately 1 in 4 7 to 9 years old are also overweight or obese and in teenagers
this figure is 1 in 5.
This is of concern as there are many short and longer term affects not only in
childhood but also in later life.
In the short term obesity causes high blood pressure and high blood sugar which
contribute to diabetes and heart disease.
The long term effects of obesity in childhood include heart disease, stroke, type II
diabetes and some cancers.
To compound these ill effects, many overweight children grow up to become obese
adults.
The prevalence of overweight and obesity has risen steadily in recent times and now
61% of Irish adults are either overweight or obese. This has risen from a figure of
44% in 1998.
In relation to diet and consumption of sugar, almost 60% of infants are snaking on
chocolate, biscuits and crisps between their main meals.
In older children and teenagers, approximately 40% of children eat sweets daily and 1
in 4 drank fizzy drinks at least once a day.
In relation to physical activity approximately 1 in 4 adults take no exercise weekly.
In children about half exercise 4 or more times a week (HBSC). It is noteworthy that
physical activity falls off in older girls, eg only 10% of 15-17 year olds were
physically active on 7 days in the previous week compared to more than 1 in 5 boys.
In recognition of the fact that obesity is associated with a number of chronic
conditions and its impact on physical and mental health, the Minister for Health in
2011 established a Special Action Group on Obesity to tackle this growing problem.
This group has representatives from the Department of Health, the Department of
Children and Youth Affairs, the Department of Education and Skills, the Health
Service Executive, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and Safe Food to examine
and progress a number of actions to address the problem of obesity.
A couple of years ago the OECD examined the impact of obesity prevention strategies
and concluded that the most efficient interventions were outside the health sector such
as education, workplace, fiscal measures, food labelling and advertising.
The healthcare system can have the greatest impact on obesity and related chronic
conditions by focussing on individuals at high risk.
This is why the group is currently liaising with other Departments and organisations
in a cross sectoral approach to help halt the rise in overweight and obesity.
These measures include calorie posting in restaurants, the impact of a levy on sugar
sweetened drinks, marketing of food and drink to children, the supply of healthy food
products in vending machines, the detection and treatment of obesity, health eating
guidelines and the promotion of physical activity.
I would like to expand briefly on some of the more recent measures.
1. On Calorie Posting, we identified this as important as a means of educating the
general public on the calorie content of menus.
Following a positive response to the Ministers letter to Fast food Restaurants, a Public
Consultation resulted in over 3000 responses.
The vast majority of consumers want calorie menu labelling as well as almost 3 in 4
food businesses.
This indicates broad support for the initiative and together with the FSAI we are
working on an implementation plan.
2. On the levy for SSDs, it is estimated that these contribute 5% of the total daily
energy of the diets of Irish children. This can equate to 70-140 calories per day.
This year we established a Steering Group to conduct a Health Impact Assessment on
the health and economic aspects of introducing such a levy.
In the summer the Minister launched a Stakeholder Day and the HIA is close to
completion.
3. In Summer this year, the Minister launched the Health Eating Guidelines.
These are for the general population and will inform people about the food and drink
choices for a health lifestyle and set out in plain and simple language the food
servings we need to maintain health and wellbeing.
A new emphasis is placed on reducing food servings from the top shelf of the Food
Pyramid and alcohol is now listed as a significant contributor to calories.
4. Physical Activity – following the launch of the Physical Activity Guidelines a few
years ago, we are now considering a Physical Activity Plan .
There are many good examples of successful local initiatives which we need to build
on and my colleagues will provide further information on these.
It is also worth noting that a new health and wellbeing framework is currently being
developed by the Department.
It will set out goals for improved health and wellbeing which are relevant for every
sector and are everyone’s responsibility.
It will provide for new arrangements to ensure cooperation and collaboration between
health and other areas such as children, social protection, education, housing and
environment.
Many of the determinants of health and wellbeing fall outside the healthcare setting
such as transportation, education, workplaces and so on.
This framework will compliment existing policies and allow us to develop closing
working relationships with our partners in support of health.
Priority areas to be addressed under the framework include tobacco, alcohol, nutrition
and physical activity.
I would also like to mention that this year we are starting a new health and wellbeing
survey which will allow us to measure health and lifestyle trends across the adult
population.
In conclusion, the trends in overweight and obesity are a cause of concern.
In Ireland as in other countries, we have crossed a threshold where chronic diseases
have become a challenge as great if not greater than infectious diseases were a century
ago.
The rising burden of chronic disease is due mainly to behavioural factors such as what
we eat, how we exercise, smoking and high levels of alcohol consumption.
All of this is amenable to prevention.
The focus of SAGO is to build on the actions previously identified by the Obesity
Task Force, Health Promotion Strategies and the CVS Strategy and to bring these
forward.
It is my belief that no single measure will reverse the trend in overweight and obesity
but a combination of measures should make a difference.
ENDS