Seanad debates

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

Childhood Obesity: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of John DolanJohn Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the support we have received from Healthy Heart, which makes a number of points on the gap in policy, food in schools, marketing to children and families on low incomes. It states that school food accounts for a growing proportion of children's food intake but is not subject to any national guidelines or standards, despite the identification of obesity as a major threat to the current and future health of this generation of children. The haphazard approach to food provision also extends to the State-funded school meals local project scheme and the school completion programme. It states that these are excellent programmes but that they incorporate no mandatory requirement for the supply of healthier food options or for monitoring the quality of food provided. The most recent step in the organisation's fight to protect children from obesity is a petition - Stop Targeting Kids - aimed at the marketing of foods which are high in fat. A report published by Irish Heart last summer, Who's Feeding the Kids Online?, exposed how junk food companies are targeting children in a much more individualised way online than they ever could through television advertising. High-tech analytics are used to target children, which is both insidious and very dangerous.

We have to realise that many people live on low incomes but the most recent results from the childhood obesity surveillance initiative, COSI, reveals a higher level of overweight and obese children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds such as those attending DEIS schools. We have to respect people who have a disposition to obesity, as we do people who are actually obese, and it is important not to apportion blame in these areas. These things have to be challenged but it must be done respectfully. Food is fuel for life - our mothers knew that. They did not have to go and read it somewhere to find out. It is fuel for our bodies, our minds and our spirits. Food is not a commodity to be traded. It is the life, soul and health of a nation and its children and adults.

It is also important not to see this as a First World problem rather than a Third World problem. Third World problems are characterised as situations where people do not enough food on which to live because they are forced to produce cash crops and sell them to get hard currency. I do not accept that. This is has been allowed to become a problem in the First World because we have not treated food as a necessary ingredient in being healthy, rather we have treated it as a commodity which we can have as we please.

At the end of June last year, Brexit hit us out of the blue. There is no way anyone can say that childhood obesity has come out of the blue. We have known for decades that this was the direction in which Ireland and other countries around it were moving. I have spent my life working in the area of disability and I know where obesity leads. It gives rise to a range of conditions such as diabetes, which is next door to stroke, amputations and eye problems among others. Ministers say they would love to be able to do more for people with disabilities but do not have the money. This issue is about stopping people developing disabling conditions and it has to be seen as a major investment.

There has been a complete cultural change in respect of this issue and there is an increased awareness of its seriousness. The Minister said that tackling obesity in childhood is a key priority and I do not doubt that. I do not believe there is anybody in the Oireachtas who does not believe it is an issue for children and adults, though some Members have differing views on climate change. However, we need to get serious about how it is dealt with. Cultural change is one of the ways. Supporting good behaviour, such as with "no-fry zones", is another way of dealing with it, as is involving communities in schemes such as getting kids to walk to school. Education is another area to focus on and public planning plays a huge role. The planning of the past has happened, however, and we have a contest between roads and the ability of children to walk safely to schools, which is an issue that we will not solve overnight.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the people of Britain were told that they would starve if they did not double food production.They appealed to the farmers of Britain to increase production. Farmers, whether they are in Britain or Ireland, if they can produce more and sell more, they are up to the challenge. Their reply was that they could not produce more. However, they finished up doubling their production. The point is that if one has to do something, one will find a way to do it.

Child mortality in Britain after the Second World War and after rationing and all that went with it had been significantly reduced from pre-war levels. Let us think about that. Food was being rationed, but it was rationed in a way that women and mothers got the milk and children got the nutritious food. A major effort was put into educating families. We have to declare nothing short of a war on childhood obesity and take control from the hands of those driving the market.

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