Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

963. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding 1.1 to 1.11 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37442/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

964. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 2.1 to 2.4 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37443/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

965. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 3.1 to 3.5 in A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37444/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

966. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendation 4.1 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37445/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

967. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 5.1 to 5.5 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37446/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

968. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 6.1 to 6.13 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37447/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

969. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 7.1 to 7.4 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37448/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

970. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 8.1 to 8.3 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37449/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

971. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 9.1 to 9.3 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37450/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

972. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding recommendations 10.1 to 10.11 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37451/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

973. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding the ten steps forward in A Healthy Weight for Ireland obesity policy and action plan 2016 to 2025; the number of priority actions planned to commence in the first year that have commenced; the priority actions which have not commenced in the first year; the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37452/17]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 963 to 973, inclusive, together.

I am pleased to be able to report to the Deputy on progress with the early implementation of ‘A Healthy Weight for Ireland’, the Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP). As the Deputy is aware, this Policy was launched last September under the Healthy Ireland agenda. The OPAP covers a ten year period up to 2025 and aims to reverse obesity trends, prevent health complications and reduce the overall burden for individuals, families, the health system, and the wider society and economy.

I wish to emphasise that every sector of our society has a role in reducing the burden of obesity and the OPAP clearly acknowledges this.

The OPAP prescribes 'Ten Steps Forward' and under each step there are a number of actions, some of which have been identified for early implementation. The current position with these steps and early priority actions is as follows:

1. Embed multi-sectoral actions on obesity prevention with the support of government departments and public sector agencies:Plans by my Department to establish an Implementation Oversight Group are well advanced and the first meeting of this cross-sectoral group is expected to take place in the coming weeks. The Minister for Finance has also announced that he will introduce a tax on sugar sweetened drinks starting in 2018;

2. Regulate for a healthier environment: the development of legislation for calorie posting to support people to make healthy choices is underway by my Department. In addition, actions in this area are being progressed through engagement with other Government Departments to support the work of stakeholders involved in planning and developing the built environment.

3. Secure appropriate support from the commercial sector to play its part in obesity prevention: A number of working groups will be established within the overall national oversight structure referred to above - including one on food reformulation. A Code of Practice for food and drink promotion, marketing, product placement and sponsorship has been developed by a working group and will be published shortly.

4. Implement a strategic and sustained communications strategy that empowers individuals, communities and service providers to become obesity aware and equipped to change, with a particular focus on families with children in the early years: A new child obesity campaign is being developed with safefood and the HSE as an important initial action in this area, and this campaign is expected to be launched before the end of this year.

5. The Department of Health, through Healthy Ireland, will provide leadership, engage and co-ordinate multi-sectoral action and implement best practice in the governance of the Obesity Policy and Action Plan: As referred to at step 1 above, the establishment of an Implementation Oversight Group is well advanced. New Healthy Eating Guidelines, Food Pyramid and supporting resources have already been published, disseminated and communicated in 2017, including dissemination of the new Guidelines earlier this month to all primary and post-primary schools. Work has also commenced on developing Healthy Eating Guidelines for the 1-5 year old age group. New Nutrition Standards for schools, with an initial focus on school meal programmes funded by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, have also been developed and will be published shortly.

6. Mobilise the health services to better prevent and address overweight and obesity through effective community-based health promotion programmes, training and skills development and through enhanced systems for detection and referrals of overweight and obese patients at primary care level: A Healthy Eating, Active Living Programme has been established as a Policy Priority Programme within the HSE and a three-year plan for the programme is currently being finalised; the GP contract for the provision of care free to children under 6 years already provides that the Medical Practitioner shall take an active approach toward promoting health and preventing disease through the provision of Periodic Assessments to Child Patients. Assessments involve the recording of age, gender, weight and height, and plotting on a centile chart at ages two and five, and taking appropriate follow-up action, including where appropriate, provision of health promotion advice, brief intervention and support, or referral to specialist services. The next phase of discussions on a new GP contract is underway. The aim is to develop a contract which has a population health focus, providing in particular for health promotion and disease prevention and for the structured ongoing care of chronic conditions. The HSE is also implementing a Breastfeeding Action Plan and a new Making Every Contact Count brief intervention framework was recently launched by the HSE which aims to capitalise on the opportunities that occur every day within the health service to support people to make healthy lifestyle choices.

7. Develop a service model for specialist care for children and adults: I welcome the recent appointment of a National Clinical Lead for Obesity, Professor Donal O’Shea. This appointment will be important in further advancing the implementation of many of the recommendations in the OPAP including the development of a national integrated service model for the health and social care of overweight and obese people and for developing quality assurance guidance for obesity services.

8. Acknowledge the key role of physical activity in the prevention of overweight and obesity: 'Get Ireland Active! The National Physical Activity Plan for Ireland' (NPAP) is one of the key developments arising from Healthy Ireland, and implementation of that Plan is well underway in collaboration with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and a range of other stakeholders..

9. Allocate resources according to need, in particular to those population groups most in need of support in the prevention and management of obesity, with particular emphasis on families and children during the first 1,000 days of life: the implementation of the Healthy Eating and Active Living Plan within the HSE will begin to address this action area, with a particular focus on supporting parents and families.

10. Develop a multi-annual research programme that is closely allied to policy actions, invest in surveillance and evaluate progress on an annual basis;The establishment of the national oversight structure referred to earlier will foster developments under this step of the OPAP.