Dr. Muireann Cullen:

I thank the committee for giving us the opportunity to come before it and make a presentation. I am a dietician and manager of the Nutrition and Health Foundation. I have worked with the foundation since 2008 and prior to that I worked in hospitals, GP settings, food law research, private practice, public health nutrition and in the food industry.

With the Nutrition and Health Foundation, the consumer is the principal concern and the heart of our mission, which is to promote a healthier Ireland through co-operation with industry, internationally recognised scientists, key health professionals, the Government, its agencies and the consumer. It is about promoting a balance between physical activity and good nutrition, which is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. All relevant stakeholders must work in partnership to promote this message and make a real difference to Irish society.

Since 2005, IBEC's Food and Drink Industry Ireland has invited different organisations to join the foundation to jointly address the health challenges. This multi-stakeholder body provides consumers with evidence-based information on nutrition and physical activity to help enable them to make informed lifestyle choices. To date, more than €2 million has been invested voluntarily in the organisation by a number of food and beverage companies. The initiative may come from the industry but the foundation takes direction from its council, which is comprised of industry and non-industry stakeholders.

I have provided a full listing of members in the presentation and in the interests of time I will not go through all of them. Examples include Glanbia, Mars Ireland, Coca-Cola, Danone, Kelkin, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute - the professional body for dieticians in Ireland - the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, and academic institutions like UCD, UCC, DCU, St. Patrick's College in Drumcondra, etc. It is about bringing together the different and relevant stakeholders with an interest in health to the table and working together.

It is a multi-stakeholder partnership approach, and contribution from all supporters is essential. All activities must be agreed by all stakeholders. The foundation does not speak on behalf of the industry, defend it or lobby on behalf of food companies. We are focused on the health agenda, with aim being to promote positive messages of balance within diet and lifestyle. We also ensure messages are compliant with the Government and other stakeholder messages.

There is the important question of what the foundation can do. It is about bringing balance to the obesity debate through evidence-based information on nutrition, physical activity and lifestyle. This is a multi-stakeholder group, with key professionals such as Professor Pat Wall, Professor Mike Gibney, Professor Donal O'Shea and Professor Niall Moyna, as well as non-governmental organisations and representatives from the industry. It is very much about thought leadership and comprehensive communications and initiatives.

There is also the question of what can be done for the foundation. That issue is about recognising, supporting and publicly endorsing the work of the foundation through party or individual statements. We all have a responsibility with regard to obesity, irrespective of the sector in which we work, and we must work together. There is a workplace well-being campaign that will be partially funded by Food and Drink Industry Ireland's Live Well initiative, which I know the committee has heard of previously.

One aspect of the foundation's activities is to enhance consumer understanding. I have brought a sample copy of a booklet that has just been launched, entitled Eat Smart, Move Smart. We have done this in working with the Camogie Association of Ireland, and it takes in nutrition, physical activity, food and supplements. It deals with different questions that teenage girls and players brought up with regard to lifestyle issues. It is a toolkit to try to promote continued involvement of teenage girls in sport.

We work with the European nutrition foundation network and we have developed a European food framework for use either in schools or outside them, targeted at six to 16 year olds, taking in nutrition, physical activity and energy balance. One cannot discuss energy in without talking about energy out, and there must be balance in the lifestyle. There is also the Kids Size Me, an initiative taken with the Restaurants Association of Ireland to deal with providing child size portions of adult meals in restaurants. It will work in addition to a children's menu, because when something is taken away, people look for it. It is about providing greater choice for parents and children when in a restaurant, and we have developed nutritional guidelines where meals are prepared that may be consumed by children. The initiative also extends to drinks and desserts offered.

We also work in research to enhance consumer understanding, and we have been involved with lifestyle behaviour change for general practice, which relates to a paper published by the Irish College of General Practitioners. There was partial funding of the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance teenager survey from 2008, with our own research taking in motivational aspects of behavioural change. We are very much involved in research either as funders, partial funders or in an advisory capacity.

With regard to communication, we have been working within the Houses of the Oireachtas to lobby on the obesity issue and ensure it remains on the political agenda. We are also looking to work with the catering team on portion sizes and healthy options on menus. The work is ongoing, although there is great sadness because Mr. Don Rice has retired. I hope to work with Ms Gráinne Barrett in future, although Mr. Rice was a great advocate and is sadly missed.

The workplace well-being campaign is an initiative taking in workplace nutrition and physical activity, and free booklets are available to employees. There is information on what can be done during a working day with regard to nutrition and physical activity and improvement of overall choices. We hope that message will filter into homes. We have more than 100,000 employees and in excess of 300 organisations involved in that programme to date but we are looking to expand.

We also did work on Eat Smart week, a healthy eating week. We work with chefs and different organisations, and this year we dealt with My Kids Time. This shows people that healthy eating does not have to be complicated, expensive or boring. There is certainly an image of healthy eating by means of a carrot stick and lettuce leaf, when everyone else is getting stuck into a steak and chips. The information is available through the website. A balance to the healthy eating side of the process is the Move Smart week, which is about being out and physically active. No matter what we eat, we must burn off calories as well. The campaign was about showing that physical activity is not boring or hard to do and about showing easy ways to do it.

We also have a consumer-friendly website that takes in both nutrition and physical activity, as they go hand in hand and we cannot speak about one without the other. Anything we do is publicly available. We are working with the Spurling cinema group to carry out a survey of consumer behaviour at the cinema. It asks if consumers purchase food going into the cinema or outside it, what they purchase, the portion sizes, etc. This will indicate whether we can undertake an initiative taking in healthy options in cinemas, although that will depend on what consumers tell us. For example, they may argue that the cinema is a treat area and should be left alone. Nevertheless, we must get an idea of people's perceptions and behaviour when they go to the cinema.

We also have an annual seminar, which was kindly opened by the Chairman this year. That examines the role of public and private sectors in tackling obesity, bringing different groups to the table and offering the opportunity for members of the public to ask questions. It involves national and international academics, as well as representatives of the food industry and non-governmental organisations.

At the seminars, national and international academics, the food industry and NGOs address and debate research and initiatives in the fields of nutrition, lifestyle and physical activity. People can avail of this work as a networking opportunity.

It is important to acknowledge that many factors play a role in the prevention and management of overweightedness and obesity in Ireland, including Departments, education, the food and beverage industry, sectors that are responsible for physical environments and the social and community sectors. A co-ordinated, united, cohesive approach is necessary if we are to address obesity.

I thank members for their attention and I will happily address the questions they may have.