Dr. Grace O'Malley:

We implore the joint committee to ensure that all stakeholders are invited to present to it in order to ensure full representation on this important issue. We recommended invitations to key individuals including the HSE clinical lead for obesity, Professor Donal O’Shea, and Ms Sarah O’Brien, the national lead for the healthy eating active living programme. We also recommend invitations to representatives from: the CHG; the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute; the Institute of Community Health Nursing; the Psychological Society of Ireland; the Irish Society of Physiotherapists; the Irish Association of Social Workers; the Irish Institute of Public Health; and the Department of Education and Skills. I think that reflects the complexity of this issue. It is a whole societal approach. It is important to hear from everybody.

The following initial steps are recommended by our team: the development of an implementation plan and evaluation framework for the provision of services to children and adolescents with clinical obesity throughout Ireland; securing sustainable Government funding for the provision of such a service; consistency in delivery of treatment services using service frameworks, referral pathways and professional, appropriately trained, staff with performance management and evaluation; and a review and standardisation of educational content pertaining to adult and child obesity in the undergraduate curricula of all health professional degree courses. As outlined in the launch of Healthy Ireland, we would like to see a whole-system approach to improving population health. While public health efforts will focus on population approaches, we need to start with the most vulnerable children who need timely access to clinical services now.