Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I thank Deputy O'Donovan for raising this issue. The global epidemic of obesity is a major public health problem throughout Europe, and 61% of Irish adults are now overweight or obese. The high levels of obesity in all age groups of the Irish population are increasing. It is not just a problem for adults but we now have the dreadful situation where one in four children is overweight or obese. That will pose huge challenges for the health service in coming years.

During 2011 the Minister for Health established a special action group on obesity, chaired by the Department of Health and comprising representatives of other Government Departments, the HSE, the FSAI and Safefood/. Its remit is to examine and progress, in a cross-sectoral approach, a number of issues to address the complex and multi-factoral problem of obesity. No single initiative will reverse the trend, but a combination of measures should make a difference.

The special action group is concentrating on a specific range of measures, including healthy eating guidelines for the Irish population; restricting the marketing of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt to children; nutritional labelling; calorie posting on restaurant menus; the promotion of physical activity and the detection and treatment of obesity. As part of the work plan of this group, earlier this month the Minister launched a national consultation to seek opinions on the best way to put calorie information on menus in Ireland. The consultation will close on 29 February 2012 and the results, when analysed, will inform the next steps in the process. An important initiative under way in the Department is entitled Your Health is Your Wealth: A Policy Framework for a Healthier Ireland 2012-2020. It is anticipated that the review will identify a number of key lifestyle policy issues, such as smoking, alcohol and obesity, where further action is required. It is important to build a consensus across sectors and to engage stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations and the sporting bodies. All the initiatives being considered by the special action group on obesity will form part of the development of the public health policy framework, to enhance the health and well-being of all the population. Diabetes is an issue of great concern and is related to the problem of the large number of people who are overweight and obese. The trend of diabetes is set to continue for the foreseeable future. In Ireland the current prevalence of diabetes in adults, Type 1 and Type 2 combined, is estimated at 5% or just over 162,000 people. This is expected to rise to 5.6% or almost 200,000 by 2015. The majority of people with diabetes have Type 2. A significant proportion of the cost of diabetes care is attributable to the management and treatment of complications.

There are proposals to roll out the diabetes chronic disease management programme, which is an important development. To manage that situation, which poses such a threat to people's well-being, health and the health service, it is critical that people take steps to change their lifestyles. Some 80% of chronic disease can be avoided through changes in lifestyle. The Minister and I are engaged in this issue and we intend to harness all the resources available to us to get to the point where it is a matter of course that people play an active part in ensuring they lead balanced, healthy and active lives so that they contribute to maintaining their good health and well-being. I thank Deputy O'Donovan for raising this issue.

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