Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 May 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Tackling Childhood Obesity: Discussion (Resumed)

9:30 am

Dr. Cathal McCrory:

Absolutely, the idea is that this would be part of a multifaceted approach. I do not think there is any single silver bullet. I wish there was as it would be a lot cheaper but there is none. This must be accompanied by health promotion literature and the realisation that some lower-income families simply cannot afford a nutrient-dense diet. They cannot afford a nutritionally balanced diet and we must be aware of that. Sometimes instructing people about what and how they should eat does not work. When one blames people, it does not work. When one enables people, tells them they can eat better and healthier and shows them how they can succeed in doing so, it works much better than blaming them.