Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses and I thank the Chairman for organising the meeting. This is my first time to attend this committee and it is a very interesting topic. I do not have specific questions for Ms Heneghan or Healthy Kidz and I thank them for their presentations. I have questions for the National Nutrition Surveillance Centre and the Department of Education and Skills. This is a very important topic when we consider six in ten adults are obese, and one in four according to the Department of Health, so it is something we need to tackle. It is a societal issue and it needs to be looked at from a multidisciplinary perspective. It involves everybody.

Will the witnesses from the National Nutritional Surveillance Centre give the reasons obesity has stabilised in recent years? Its submission specifically mentioned first class children and children over the age of eight. I am interested to know why the witnesses think this has occurred. It is a positive indicator, although small. With regard to the broader problem of weight in Ireland and the statistic I mentioned on adults, is there an observed correlation, or have the witnesses done any research on, overweight parents and weight issues in their children? There seems to be a reverse statistic, with regard to girls being overweight more than boys when they are younger and then it seems to be men more than women, at 69% to 52%. I wonder why this is. Would the witnesses be able to answer this?

My next question is for the Department of Education and Skills. I welcome the goals of the obesity policy and the 2016 action plan. Will they be achieved? How do they align with best international practice on tackling obesity?