Professor Cecily Kelleher:

I thank the Chairman and the joint committee for giving us the opportunity to present some current research evidence on childhood obesity from the National Nutrition Surveillance Centre. The centre has been in existence since 1991 and is based at University College Dublin. We have a track record of providing surveillance and scientific data for colleagues in the research community and policymakers. I wish to highlight, in particular, the childhood obesity surveillance initiative that has been in place since 2008. It is a World Health Organization international initiative in which Ireland has been participating for the past ten years. In recent years we have collected data in sentinel primary schools for seven year olds in first class. We published data in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015 and will be undertaking further research in 2018. In the last round the prevalence of overweight and obesity among first class children was 16.9% overall. That represents a stabilisation over time. The prevalence is significantly higher among girls than boys and this has been the case in the rounds of data we have collected. Overweight and obesity are more marked in disadvantaged schools, as designated by the Department of Education and Skills, than in other schools. That is an important inequality we are keen to emphasise. Clear targets have been set by the Government in A Healthy Weight for Ireland - Obesity Policy and Action Plan which was published in 2016. The targets aim at a reduction of 10% in the gap in obesity levels between the highest and lowest socioeconomic groups. That is an important feature of the action. We had the privilege to listen to some of the discussion earlier. Obesity is a multi-sectoral problem. It is a major challenge and something we need to address. However, there is evidence of stabilisation. That is important information on which to capitalise and act.

I draw the attention of committee members to a study published in The Lancetmedical journal in 2017. The study pooled data over a 40 year period for children and adults. It shows that there has been a global increase in overweight and obesity in all age groups. We are focusing, in particular, on children, but I wish to highlight that the increase has also been happening among adults. There is some evidence of stabilisation in north-western Europe, in particular. That is important to highlight because it means that we need to capitalise and move on the things that are important to make changes.

If the committee wishes to hear about it, we can cover some more of the work we have been doing in the NNSC on the school meals programme and healthy vending machines. I draw the committee's attention to the Health Research Board's centre for diet and health research in which all colleagues present have been participating. As part of that work we have been looking at different age groups and contexts. We have been following cohorts of individuals to see what patterns of growth and development have been occurring. In particular, my work has focused on the lifeways cross-generation cohort study of 1,000 families which covers three generations, including children, parents and grandparents. We see very strong family patterns, clustering, particularly on the maternal line. These are due to factors such as shared environment in the home, of course, but also the intrauterine environment. In school programmes I would focus, in particular, on the children in transition year in order to prepare them for pregnancy and later family development. That will be crucial. Internationally there is an increasing focus on trying to intervene as early as possible in the life course for women in order to prepare them for pregnancy and the best possible outcomes.