Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

It is a great moment to have this debate in the Senate and I would also like to compliment Senator Eamonn Coghlan. Physical exercise is something we can all do and something we can all do cheaply. It is a major argument in favour of health outcomes. It is good for our overall well being. As the Minister for Health said himself, it aids in the release of endorphins, which make us feel better. That definitely contributes to our overall well being and fights depression as well.

I would like to quote some of the greats from the past:

To keep the body in good health is a duty. Otherwise we shall not be able to keep our minds strong and clear.

It was the great Buddha himself who said that. Here is another quote: "Those who do find time for exercise will have to find time for illness." That is quite thought provoking and it came from Edward Smith-Stanley, who was three times Prime Minister of the UK in the 19th century.

I understand that Senator Coghlan has accepted the Government amendment in principle, and I am delighted about that. The only minor point on which we differ is the fact that the Minister has established a special action group on obesity and we are waiting to hear the outcome of that. It will explore the options for developing effective and appropriate responses across Departments. We must examine this across Departments such as the environment, education and health. This issue crosses many different areas of responsibility.

I would like to make three points. There is a compelling argument for everyone to be more physically active, but since 1990, there has been an eightfold increase in teenage male obesity and a twofold increase in teenage female obesity. An eightfold increase in obesity among young males over 20 years is really frightening. Children in the lower end of the social class spectrum are more likely to suffer, due to an unhealthy lifestyle of fast food outlets, cheap manufactured food and very little exercise. "Growing Up in Ireland" revealed two important facts. Children from professional households are less likely to be overweight and obese, and children from unskilled households are more likely to suffer, and this figure is 29% for boys and 38% for girls. Therefore, it is very important that we look at the lower socio-economic group here as a particular group at risk, as well as looking at all children generally.

I would like to speak in favour of education. I started my working life as a primary teacher and I loved physical education. I took a particular interest across the whole school in physical education for a selfish reason. I was so deeply interested in it, and so were the children. We had basketball leagues and other leagues, and they all took to it. The key to physical education in schools, where there are no trained physical education teachers, is to have interested teachers. Teachers must be interested and there must be investment in their skills. This will not be beaten for good models. I have seen great enthusiasm and a desire to be involved when we have somebody who wants to lead this.

Children naturally love activity, as the Minister pointed out. They are naturally competitive. If we told two kids to walk together around the perimeter of a school, they would probably get to the end of the bench before they would be running. It is just in them to go for it. We need to encourage them. We need to make time for it and we need to have the right people promoting it. There is absolutely no point forcing a teacher who has no interest in it or who does not feel good at it, because it will just die a death. However, there needs to be investment.

I am also in favour of physical education being an examinable subject at second level for two reasons. First, many of our children are naturally talented in this area. Physical intelligence is one of the multiple intelligences. We should let the children who shine in that area experience success in examinations as a reward. In addition, if PE were examinable, it could be an incentive for inactive children to be more active. As we saw, 11% of teachers said that time pressure due to other exam-based subjects prevented them from using the programme, so if it was an examinable subject the addition of extra time would be an attraction.

Health is not just linked to exercise, it is also linked to good nutrition. For a long time I have argued for breakfast to be provided in schools. Children who are physically active need to be fed, but breakfast in schools will not only help them in this regard, it will also help them to learn. That would be a key societal change. Not every child likes breakfast at breakfast time but by the time they get to school they could have an appetite.

There is a more I could say about supporting the Minister in terms of calorie counting and paying attention to the sugar and salt contents of food, but I will finish by saying, "Well done" to Senator Coghlan. He is leading the way and we are all prepared to follow.