Dr. Anne-Marie Brooks:

I thank the committee for this opportunity to present to the committee today on the matter of tackling childhood obesity. The committee will be aware of Better Outcomes Brighter Futures, the national policy framework for children and young people, which was launched in 2014. This whole-of-Government policy framework identifies a range of measures to improve outcomes for children and young people, including measures to address childhood obesity. Since its publication and through its implementation structures, childhood obesity has been identified as a priority for cross-sectoral action. The Department of Health leads on this with the support of other Departments, including the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Better Outcomes Brighter Futures has facilitated new opportunities to strengthen cross-sectoral engagement and buy-in, in particular through the children and young people’s services committees around the country.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is committed to supporting the Department of Health with this and its wider work in the area. The Department was delighted to be able to assist the Department of Health in the development of the obesity policy by facilitating children and young people to input to and shape its content. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is represented on the oversight group that has been established to oversee the implementation of this policy. It is also represented on the healthy eating sub-group.

I will concentrate on areas relevant to the Department, which it has progressed. As the Department with lead responsibility for early childhood education and care, ECEC, we recognise we have a role to play in ensuring that publicly funded ECEC services seize the opportunities they are presented with to positively influence children’s outcomes. We know for children attending these services on a full-time basis in particular that ECEC provides a very significant proportion of a child's daily food intake, as much as 70%. We also know that the universal free preschool programme, ECCE, is availed of by 96% of children in this country from the age of two years and eight months and provides a very significant opportunity to influence healthy eating habits from this early stage.

We have in place regulations, which stipulate that services must ensure that all children in attendance at ECEC services receive a nutritious diet, which takes account of individual needs and preferences. The Tusla early years inspectorate inspects against these regulations. Under these regulations, ECEC services are required to develop a policy on healthy eating in line with resources developed by the Department of Health, the HSE and Safefood, specifically food and nutrition guidelines, serving size guidelines and a sample three-week menu plan.

Síolta, the national quality framework for ECEC, also recognises the importance of proactively promoting the development of healthy eating habits in children while supporting their enjoyment and appreciation of eating as a positive social experience. Within these standards, services are encouraged to inform children and raise awareness with parents and families about healthy eating.

Increasing play and activity are key elements in the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity and, under the regulations, ECEC services must also promote safe physical play and activity, both indoors and out. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has administered a number of annual capital grant schemes for ECEC services to support the purchase of outdoor play equipment to encourage outdoor play and activity.

More broadly, since its establishment in 2011, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs has supported play and recreation by establishing the local authority play and recreation network to bring a more co-ordinated approach to supporting play and recreation at local level; providing annual funding for play and recreation initiatives, including support for the annual national play day and national recreation weeks that raise the profile of play and recreation at a local level; and administering the Department of Children and Youth Affairs capital grant scheme for play and recreation to support the development or refurbishment of play and recreation facilities.

In recognition of the importance of early childhood for laying the foundations for later development, where positive behaviours such as a healthy diet and weight are established, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs has, in partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies, progressed a range of prevention and early intervention initiatives. These have added to the evidence base on how to improve children’s outcomes and, in particular, how to tackle childhood obesity. The evaluation of one particular initiative, Preparing for Life, found that at age four, children in that programme were less likely to be overweight. Of the children of families receiving this programme, 23% were overweight at 48 months, compared with 41% of children who did not receive it. Work on mainstreaming the learning from this and other initiatives is now under way with the support of Tusla.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is in the process of finalising the national strategy for babies, young children and their families. This ten-year strategy will focus on the first years of a child’s life. As with Better Outcomes Brighter Futures, one of the goals of the strategy will focus on children’s health and the issue of childhood obesity will be given priority. We have been working very closely with the Department of Health to identify potential actions to add to the very significant programme of work already committed to under the obesity policy. Among the areas for consideration are strengthening the role played by parents and families and the wider community, including ECEC services, where early development unfolds for most children. The strategy will be published by the end of this year.

I thank the committee for its time and attention and I will be happy to discuss any of the issues raised.