Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a way of dealing with the issue of fast food outlets targeting children, but it means involving local authorities. If local authorities state in their development plan that no fast food outlet may be located close to schools, that can be done. It is about getting the relevant councillors in the local authorities across the State and beyond to put that into their county development plans. It would be a very good idea. Fast food provides cheap quantity and is almost instant. For low income families, who may not have education regarding diet and so forth, all those factors contribute to making it attractive.

Another problem with young kids who become obese is that their bodies become dependent. I was reading an article recently that stated that once the body has that dependency, while one might lose weight temporarily, it comes back almost instantly unless one defeats it at an early age. That comes back to education of the parent by the GP and getting that message across. I have 12 grandchildren. One of them is a little obese, but the rest are grand. We are lucky because we do not live near a fast food outlet and we live in a country area. It starts with the relationship between the GP and the parents and the responsibility the parents must take for the child's development.