Seanad debates

Tuesday, 24 May 2005

Report of National Task Force on Obesity: Statements.

 

4:00 pm

Photo of Ulick BurkeUlick Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Seán Power, to the House. I also welcome the valuable report of the national task force on obesity. Its 93 recommendations highlight how simple solutions can be found and be effective in tackling this issue. Since the report's publication, we have seen banner headlines describing obesity as an epidemic and a crisis. However, these are the descriptions of over-enthusiastic journalists and other commentators who have missed the point.

In a short article in The Irish Times, Mr. Maurice Neligan outlines in a practical and sensible way the small matters that can make the difference. While we can talk about a crisis, I do not believe we have reached such a point. Mr. Neligan asked if we could classify obesity as a disease of a prosperous economy. Some will agree but, parallel to this, we have an aging society in which people live longer than before. This should be contrasted with the real crisis during the Famine. How many people died then?

It is claimed that 300,000 people are suffering from obesity with 2,000 related deaths per annum. Are we not going overboard, forgetting the millions dying of starvation in the world? Can we have some balance in debating this issue?

The task force report is welcome but many of its recommendations can be described as simple and practical remedies, provided there is a commitment to implement them. At the launch of the report, the Taoiseach stated the Government was taking a proactive approach to the issue, in the same manner as Ireland led the way with legislation providing for smoke-free work environments.

Are we to embark on a programme of banning certain activities and products? One of the report's recommendations is to ban soft drink dispensers in schools. This makes me wonder if it is authentic and genuine in intent. Where was the survey to which it alludes undertaken? I could go a long way in the west to find a national school where anything other than water, often of poor quality, is dispensed. Those members of the task force who agreed to these recommendations must be far removed from the reality of what is available in our schools. For example, again this week, newspaper headlines have focussed on the quality of school accommodation.

This situation is over-hyped. As a result, some over-enthusiastic school personnel have searched children's bags to see if they had Coca Cola or a packet of crisps for lunch. This does nothing to help in our attempts to address the problem.

The Government must be committed to deal with this issue in a small and practicable way. How many primary schools have functional physical education halls? They were provided for in the construction plans for many new schools. However, no sooner had the schools opened then the halls were subdivided to provide extra classrooms. The idea that physical education was to become an integral part of school activity was thrown out the window. Let us call a spade a spade. How many schools has the Taoiseach visited, where he has seen a functioning physical education hall? The task force recommends children be involved in a minimum of 30 minutes of activity twice weekly. The reality is that schools do not have time for that. They are being told to make time for it, but if they do, people ask why children are out at play for so long and not in class, doing the work they should be doing. On the one hand we have pious platitudes while the reality is we do not make the necessary provision. The Minister for Education and Science has not provided for this situation in terms of more physical education being possible in schools.

When, on occasion, there are celebrations in schools, teachers and schools are often praised for the work they do in games and PE. In reality, all that is done outside school hours when the teachers are working in the community with children. Throughout the country we have many community halls and facilities of various kinds which are bolted up all week and not utilised. I suggest that the Government give schools a direct grant so they could talk to the trustees of those halls, rent them and pay for the public liability insurance. That is a simple, practical matter. It costs money, but the commitment given by the Taoiseach will involve cost, whether the funds come from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, Education and Science, or Health and Children. Why not involve all three Departments?

I was a health board member for about ten years, and all the reports and papers which the board drew up over a period of time cost time, money and personnel resources which could have been otherwise engaged. I am not saying the personnel were not gainfully engaged, but they could have been otherwise engaged. A wise spending policy within the Department would allow for many of the recommendations in the task force report to be easily implemented. Personnel might look at the budget provided and transfer it accordingly. A fraction of the €340 million being devoted to this area over a period of time could be diverted to the provision of facilities, or access to facilities, for children at primary and secondary schools.

We are regularly told that young people are more interested in watching TV than in physical activity. That is nonsense. Such statements are made by people totally removed from reality. If one were to go round the country today one would see thousands of children actively involved in games and PE. This is not within the context of the schools, because of the pressures involved there. I spent years working in the classroom. When one took children on a field trip, a school excursion or whatever it might be, one's heart was in one's mouth until all returned safely. Nevertheless, whatever children remember of the school year, they remember the field trips, or the day they went to the Aran Islands, the Burren, or wherever they may have gone. That is a sure indication that children are favourably disposed to activity when the opportunity is presented. Such an opportunity will present itself only when resources are provided in a meaningful way, with the facilities available utilised in a meaningful way. I know the commitment is there from the voluntary organisations, from the teaching staff and from parents who commit a great deal of time to such activities.

Next Saturday in Tullamore, the athletics finals of the national schools will take place. There one will see some of the finest up and coming athletes. Whether the sports involve track and field events or others, the majority of those children, boys and girls, will present themselves there not through the initiative of the Department of Education and Science or the Government, but because of their dedication, as well as the dedication of their parents who bring them everywhere, and that of their teachers, who prepared them and brought them to the standards they have reached.

For those who say we have an epidemic or a crisis, it would be a good exercise to visit Tullamore on Saturday to see the reality, the cream of the student athletic body, and consider all those who participated in the event. We must not forget how many of their peer group could have benefitted if we had proper facilities and equipment within the school structures. I ask the Minister of State, in consultation with the Minister for Education and Science, and the Minister for Health and Children, to consider the situation and provide resources so people can participate in such activities.

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