Dr. Sinead Murphy:

On behalf of the W82GO programme at the Children's University Hospital, Temple Street, and the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, I thank the joint committee for the opportunity to present on the enormous challenge and growing epidemic of childhood obesity. We also thank Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor for her introduction to the committee. We are grateful for this opportunity to have the voice of the children of Ireland heard in the report on obesity that is about to be published.

I will begin by contextualising our role in childhood overweight and obesity. I am a paediatrician and the clinical lead on the W82GO! childhood obesity programme which was established eight years ago by a group of committed, enthusiastic health care professionals in Temple Street Children's University Hospital. The W82GO! programme, including my position as clinical lead, is funded entirely by the Temple Street fund-raising arm, Children's Fund for Health, and a research grant awarded to one of our team members by the Health Research Board. When the grant expires the service, the only one of its kind in Ireland, will be forced to cease. We have joined forces with the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute in the belief that, together and with the support of the Oireachtas, we can address the obesity catastrophe with the urgency it deserves.

I propose to provide some facts and figures on childhood obesity. Recent figures show that 31.8 % of Irish seven year olds are either overweight or obese. This accounts for more than one in four of our schoolchildren, which translates as 100,000 children who are obese and 300,000 who are overweight. The problem begins in childhood and is beginning earlier and earlier. Currently, 6% of three year olds are obese and the figure increases to 10% among lower socioeconomic groups.

Ireland ranks fifth highest among 27 European Union countries in terms of the incidence of childhood obesity. As with many other things, childhood obesity disproportionately impacts on lower socioeconomic groups. This fact must be considered when addressing potential solutions. Given the catchment area of Temple Street, the children's hospital probably deals with the largest proportion of children in the lowest socioeconomic group of any hospital in the country. The position in respect of childhood obesity is becoming steadily worse and is not stabilising in any way. Moreover, we know that 70% of obese children will become obese adults.

With regard to co-morbidities, the essential and extremely worrying fact is that children are already showing the ill-effects of overweight and obesity in childhood. We do not wait for them to become adults because they are already in trouble. Unless these children are provided with the treatment they need when they need it as a matter of extreme urgency, they will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Having worked for so long to achieve longer life expectancy, we are set to reverse this achievement by choosing to do nothing.

Over the past five years, the W82GO! team has collected data on the co-morbidities in children who have attended for treatment. By co-morbidity we mean conditions with which the children suffer and which are related to their obesity. We found that 70% of the children in question, who are aged under 15 years, have musculoskeletal problems; 40% have high cholesterol levels; 50% have high blood sugar and insulin levels, which means they are about to develop early type 2 diabetes mellitus; and 30% have breathing problems. It is a matter of grave concern that in respect of the mental health of these children and young people, we found that 60% reported psychological difficulties such as poor self-esteem and depression, with 11% reporting severe bullying. If left untreated, these children will become adults who are obese, in whom the complications of obesity such as stroke, heart disease, infertility and increased risk of multiple cancers are well recognised. This possibility can be prevented.

As with all health issues, tackling childhood obesity has cost implications and we are aware of the cost concerns that arise. The allocation of funding to the pandemic of childhood obesity is patchy and wholly inadequate. I do not believe any official funding is provided for childhood obesity. The cost of adult obesity to the State is in excess of €1 billion per annum. This cost will continue to rise unless childhood obesity is addressed.

If left untreated, the average child who is obese, of whom there are 100,000 in Ireland, will cost in the region of €5,000 per year as a result of direct treatment for co-morbidities, in other words, attending for various medical opinions, surgery and other interventions arising directly from their obesity. Addressing the problem reduces costs and produces savings. Service provision for the treatment of childhood obesity is urgently required.

We sometimes skirt around the fact that childhood obesity is a highly complex issue. If the problem is not addressed as a matter of extreme urgency, it will have far-reaching consequences for the children in question, their families, future generations and a health care system that is already under massive pressure.