John Gilroy (Labour)

I welcome the Minister. This is an important debate in which I have a particular interest. I will not refer again to the statistics which have been presented. Suffice to say that obesity is a major challenge for society in terms of obvious health impacts, healthy living, quality of life issues and even employment. It is estimated that physical inactivity costs the economy approximately €1.6 billion per annum. We can only imagine what we could do if such a sum were available to us.

The obvious health impacts of obesity are in cardiovascular and circulatory illnesses. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among Irish adults and the country has the highest rate of ischaemic heart disease in Europe for men and the third highest rate for women. A 15 year longitudinal study showed that rates of ischaemic heart disease increased until the mid-1970s before reaching a plateau and entering a period of steady decline. Obesity rates, on the other hand, have increased in parallel with this decline. While more work needs to be done to determine the relationship between obesity and ischaemic heart disease, it is clear that the change in obesity levels coincides with a period of rapid modernisation and associated trends such as a sedentary lifestyle and the proliferation of fast food and convenience food production. It would be great if we could construct our public policy responses around this analysis but, unfortunately, matters are not so simple. While there is no doubt something in this analysis, a great number of other issues have influenced rates of overweight and associated health conditions.

It is startling to note that as many as 200,000 people may be walking around today with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. This is a major problem for the individuals concerned, as the Minister noted. His colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, stated recently that the current generation of parents face the prospect of seeing their children die before them as a result of obesity related illness. This is a terrible tragedy for a great number of people.

Some 40% of common cancers are in related to being overweight. The curtailment of life opportunities and potential due to weight related illnesses is immeasurable. The problem also has societal implications, however, because aside from the personal costs of obesity, the economic cost is €1.6 billion each year. It is only when one starts speaking of money that policymakers seem to listen. The increased burden on our health service is self-evident, as is the fact that we are storing up problems for the future.

To identify and quantify the problem is half the battle while the other half involves deciding what policy direction we will take to implement strategies to combat obesity. A proper analysis of the problem is vital. As such, we need to examine all aspects of modern living to establish where its root lies. We can look in some unlikely and at first glance less than obvious places, one of which is the planning system. We have not allowed the proper development of footpaths and cycleways over the past ten years, a period in which one third of the housing stock was replaced. We produced a car based society in which the majority of children are driven to school. As a result of poor planning by local authorities, it is dangerous to allow children to cycle to school, play in the streets and indulge in a range of informal recreational activities which we took for granted a few short years ago.

The planning system allows sports grounds to be relocated from town centres, which were within easy walking distance for most of the population, to the countryside. In many cases, the new locations are several miles outside the town centre in areas where land prices are more affordable. It is bizarre that people need to be driven to places where they can exercise.

We must examine the school curriculum to identify whether the objectives of physical education are being achieved. While education and sports policy overlap in important ways and are likely to support each other, their core orientations are not the same. Other policy areas also have an interest in physical activity. However, in many cases policy goals do not coincide and in some cases they are contradictory. We must examine physical activity facilities in schools, some of which do not even have the basic facilities required to meet the minimum targets.

We need to examine particular groups and whether they achieve minimum standards. We know that children between the ages of eight and 13 years are most likely to be active and physical activity declines during teenage years. All available research shows that boys are more active than girls to engage in physical activity, probably owing to the types of sporting opportunities aimed at particular cohorts of the population. Children are not given an opportunity to walk. This trend may be a response to a perceived increase in crime, particularly in urban areas, despite evidence to suggest the crime rate is declining.

I train a couple of soccer teams in Glanmire where I live. It is noticeable that even very young children are not fit. My club needs to concentrate on fitness in the pre-season, even in the case of very young children, which is remarkable. This is worrying because the patterns of behaviour laid down in childhood influence future behaviour. We can blame the rise of electronic goods and young people spending hours in front of television sets with console in hand. However, the many factors I have cited cannot be viewed in isolation from another.

We also need to consider how food is promoted and who is the target audience for advertisers. Highly sweetened drinks and foods are advertised for the children's market and fast food that is high in calorific content is portrayed in ways that makes it appear cool. We know there is a direct link between intake of carbohydrate containing food and low income households and that this link is price related. This issue must also be considered.

We must examine our cultural norms and ask ourselves if our relationship with food and body image is a healthy one. Needless to say, we must examine our relationship with alcohol. At 200 calories per drink, alcohol is a serious culprit in respect of overweight. We need to consider the problem in all its complexity because the temptation to choose one or other from this eclectic mix is difficult to resist.

I thank Senator Eamonn Coghlan for publishing his report. It addresses important issues and is a serious piece of work which must be taken seriously. I congratulate him on his hard work and diligence. As the Senator noted, education is at the heart of solving this problem. I will not steal from or plagiarise his speech. If we are to achieve success in this area, we must do two things, namely, listen to the experts in the field, of whom Senator Coghlan is one, and ensure that policy areas work together to achieve the maximum outcome.