Ms Janis Morrissey:

On that point, the HSE is running a nurture programme which is focused on the early years. There is a wealth of evidence to demonstrate the massive lifelong impact of what a mother eats on the health of the child for its whole life and into adulthood. There is a huge opportunity to influence that child's health positively before it is even born. That needs to be followed through with support for breastfeeding, supporting mothers to breastfeed and to continue to breastfeed should they wish. There is work to be done on societal norms and the culture around breastfeeding. There is much evidence to show how breastfeeding helps to reduce rates of obesity and chronic disease. On fitting in healthy weaning practices, there was shocking research from the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital about what was going into children's bottles. Food processors were being used to break down takeaways to put into bottles. A huge amount of work needs to be done on weaning practices and getting those healthy habits in from the outset so that it is embedded across the whole family and the whole family is eating as a unit consistently, with the parents acting as role models and eating what they want their children to eat. Early years are vital.