The Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute is calling on the retail sector to remove vending machines from schools as a new study shows one in four Irish children are now either obese or overweight.
The "Growing up in Ireland" study reveals that 30,000 children here aged three, six, nine and 13 are obese or overweight.
The group says that HSE childhood obesity services in Ireland are “sparse or non existent” across country and it is calling on the Government to urgently devise a childhood obesity strategy and implementation plan.
The call came as it launched the inaugural Nourish Children Week, a public awareness campaign that seeks to raise awareness and understanding of issues relating to childhood nutrition including childhood obesity, weaning and spoon feeding and nutritional support for children with disabilities.
Irish Nutrition & Dietetic Institute suggestions to tackle the problem:
- The retail sector should remove vending machines from schools.
- Physical Education should be re-instated as part of core curriculum subjects in primary and post primary secondary schools
- The BAI should increase the watershed from 6pm to 9pm for advertising of high fat, salt and sugar foods and drinks
- Parent education on weaning, spoon feeding and importance of physical activity (before and after pregnancy) to be prioritised
- A Healthy Eating Flag for schools to be introduced to complement the existing Active Flag system.
- The Department of Children and Youth Affairs in partnership with the Department of Health and other government departments should develop a national cross-sectoral strategy for childhood obesity prevention and intervention service.
Dietitian and head of the Irish Nutrition & Dietetic Institute, Richelle Flanagan says action needs to be taken. She told Newstalk Breakfast why she believes the problem of childhood obesity is getting worse:
