Written answers

Wednesday, 11 May 2022

Photo of Louise O'ReillyLouise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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243. To ask the Minister for Health the progress that is being made to reach the WHO global target to halt the rise in obesity by 2025, particularly given that the WHO European Regional Obesity Report 2022 notes that no Member State is on track to reach the target; the way that Ireland is performing in relation to achieving the targets set out in chapter 4 of A Healthy Weight for Ireland: Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2016-2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23537/22]

Photo of Frank FeighanFrank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The World Health Organisation European Regional Obesity Report 2022 was launched on May 3rd. It examines the prevalence and trends of overweight and obesity among adults and children in the WHO European Region between 1975 and 2016. The report finds that levels of obesity in the region have increased by 138% in that period, and the levels of overweight (including obesity) by 51%. It notes that “Alarmingly, there have been consistent increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the WHO European Region and no Member State is on track to reach the target of halting the rise in obesity by 2025”.

The Healthy Ireland Survey 2019 (representative of the population of those aged 15 and over), and the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative for children, indicate that the levels of obesity in Ireland have been stabilising, albeit at too high a level. The HI Survey 2019 reports that 23% of Irish people aged 15 and over are obese, with a further 37% being overweight, which are the same percentage as in the 2015 study. However, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on obesity levels is not yet reflected in the official statistics, with the pandemic itself impacting on data collection in this area.

Data for the current wave of the Healthy Ireland Survey is at present being collected and will include self reported weights and measures which will provide an indication of the long term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on overweight and obesity in Ireland. It is envisaged that the Report will be published in Q4, 2022

The WHO report notes the complex and multifaceted nature of obesity, and that no single intervention can combat the rise in obesity rates. It emphasises that efforts to prevent obesity need to consider the wider determinants of the disease.

Ireland has a comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy in place to combat obesity. “A Healthy Weight for Ireland”, the Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2016-2025 (OPAP). The Plan recognises the complex nature of obesity and that there is no one simple solution, and that every sector of society will need to play its part.

The OPAP prescribed the following short-term (five-year) targets for overweight and obesity:

- a sustained downward trend (averaging 0.5% per annum as measured by the Healthy Ireland Survey) in the level of excess weight averaged across all adults;

- a sustained downward trend [averaging 0.5% per annum as measured by the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) in the level of excess weight in children, and

- a reduction in the gap in obesity levels between the highest and lowest socioeconomic groups by 10%, as measured by the Healthy Ireland and COSI surveys.

While the data in relation to the targets in the OPAP are not complete due to the data collection issues outlined above, it is unlikely that these targets have been met. For this reason, there is a renewed focus on combatting obesity by this government, and a particular emphasis on addressing health inequalities in socio-economically disadvantaged areas.

The WHO Report makes a number of policy recommendations, many of which are already being either implemented or being examined under the Obesity Policy and Action Plan. These include a sugar-sweetened drinks tax, which was implemented in Ireland in 2018.

Ireland also published a “Roadmap for Food Product Reformulation in Ireland” in December 2021, which is being implemented through a dedicated Food Reformulation Task Force in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, funded by the Department of Health through Healthy Ireland.

In terms of obesity management and healthcare, the HSE Model of Care for the Management of Overweight and Obesity was launched in March 2021. This sets out how healthcare for children, young people and adults living with overweight and obesity in Ireland should be organised and resourced now and into the future.

To support and educate families about nutrition and healthier choices, particularly those from socio-economically disadvantaged areas, Healthy Ireland has funded the recruitment of 19 Community Food and Nutrition Officers as part of the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme, who will work within the 19 communities.

Under the overall Healthy Ireland Framework and Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan, work is being advanced to address the social determinants under the Obesity Policy and Action Plan and the National Physical Activity plan, and through initiatives such as the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme. This is in line with the approach recommended in the WHO report.

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