Dr. Aileen McGloin:

Deputy Durkan has raised an important issue. When we think about encouraging behaviour change, it is with regard to three different elements. The Deputy mentioned education. The three elements are capacity building, opportunity and motivation. We need to continue helping people to build their knowledge and skills in this area, like work on the community food initiatives that Dr. Kearney mentioned. It is also important to mention the work of Sláintecare healthy communities, the food community food and nutrition workers and all the work on the ground. We cannot continue to expect people, based on their knowledge and skills alone, to be able to withstand daily bombardment by unhealthy food in their environment. People will only have so much resilience or resistance in that kind of environment. We need to provide them with the opportunity to eat healthy. We need it to be much easier to eat healthily. The last part of that equation is motivation, which obviously changes from individual to individual. However, communicating the consequences of living with overweight and obesity, or the health benefits of not, or appealing to a certain identity like a protector of children are all different techniques we have used in the past. It is that kind of holistic approach to prevention of obesity we feel is really important.