Seanad debates

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

Tackling Obesity in Ireland: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Paschal MooneyPaschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For those who are not aware of it, Sunny Delight emerged as a drink for children. It was placed in the refrigeration cabinets of Irish supermarkets, not on the drink shelves. It was put there quite deliberately and mischievously by the food industry. It was sugared water coloured orange. The sugar content was so high that it was obscene. I am not sure whether it is still a product on supermarket shelves, because my children have grown older, but I was very much aware of it when they were younger. It was an indication to me - it has been repeated in the food industry - of mischief-making by the food industry, which pays lip service to the whole question of obesity but will then draw back and say it has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with the food industry. I could not help but recall a statement made by Irish scientist, Sir Stephen O'Rahilly, professor of clinical biochemistry and medicine and director of the Metabolic Research Laboratories at Cambridge University, who said:



It seems unarguable that excessive caloric consumption is playing a major role in driving the increasing prevalence of obesity. [That is self-evident]. It is helpful to get a well-informed semi-quantitative estimate of the sorts of overall reduction in calorie ingestion we would need to return obesity levels to those found in the 1980s. It would be optimal if the food industry became helpful partners, not adversaries, in countering the obesity epidemic. It is less likely to do so if hectored about substantially slashing its profits.
That is a very real concern, despite the fact that it may appear as though I am hectoring the food industry.

Research has shown that reducing body mass index, BMI, to 1980s levels in the UK - I assume the same applies here as the statistics are very close - would require an 8% reduction in consumption across the country. That in itself seems to be a modest reduction, but it would cost the food industry approximately €8.7 billion per year. Is there any incentive for the food industry? It seems not. That suggests to me that the legislative framework may have to force the food industry to act, and perhaps this could start the debate about labelling, which has been ongoing in Europe. Clearly, the food industry manages to obfuscate the interpretation the consumer is likely to put on food labelling in their efforts to discover whether a food is good for them or for their children. For example, writing "sodium" instead of "salt" is one way of disguising what is within a food. The food industry has fought tooth and nail against common positions in the European Union. It is like the smoking lobby. It is probably the most powerful lobby out there. As Professor O'Rahilly, has said attacking the food industry is a waste of time but certainly there is a need to draw it in. Perhaps the Minister will comment on that.

I acknowledge that a number of major food retailers are beginning to take the issue a bit more responsibly. For example, in recent years, Marks & Spencer has reduced the salt content of many of its food products. Some of them had a very high salt content. Nestlé in America has been forced to reduced its salt content. Obviously the food industry is aware of consumer pressure.Therefore, the question arises as to where a balance can be achieved between harnessing that consumer pressure and Governments discharging their responsibilities to ensure their citizens do not continue to be unhealthy. The cost of obesity to the Irish health sector is quite appalling. The safefood study on the cost of overweight and obesity found that direct health care costs linked to excessive weight in the Republic add up to €400 million, which is 3% of total health spending. However, this is dwarfed by the €729 million in indirect costs caused by absenteeism at work.

I do not have any simple glib answers, but I agree with those who said schools should be targeted. It is totally unacceptable, as Senator Naughton said, that 30% of schools are still churning out junk food. I do not want to name a former Member of this House, but when I raised the issue of obesity ten or 15 years ago and said snacking and providing crisps and biscuits to school pupils was unacceptable he said there were plenty of calories in them. He was a representative of the teaching profession. I was appalled and could not believe what he said. Maybe attitudes have changed; I hope they have and that the teaching profession is very much aware of its importance and responsibilities to the children in their care during the school day. That is a place to start.

I always remember as a very young boy my father regaling me with stories of when he was a young boy. When he went to primary school in the 1920s and 1930s physical education was part of the curriculum, but that is now gone. Our party is proposing that schools try to encourage more physical activity and free play areas. I am interested in hearing the views of the Minister on this. Should PE, for example, be part of the curriculum? Should it be mandatory at primary level that half an hour a day be given over to physical activity? It may not prove popular with children, but it seems to have worked for previous generations. I wish the Minister well in dealing with what is a very complex problem that needs to be addressed.

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