LESS THAN one-fifth of the recommendations made by a Government taskforce on obesity four years ago have been implemented, according to a review of the follow-up to its report.
Despite the rise in the number of overweight and obese people, just 18 of the 93 recommendations made by the National Taskforce on Obesity have been fully implemented, the review shows.
However, Minister of State at the Department of Health Mary Wallace, who chaired the review, insisted “huge progress” had been made in implementing recommendations. Significant progress has been made in one-third of the recommendations, she said, and another one-third had been partially implemented.
Ms Wallace said action was “progressing” on another 28 per cent of recommendations, while no progress was made on 9 per cent.
She promised a redoubling of efforts to “row back the rising tide of overweight and obesity”, although this would not be easy.
Some 61 per cent of the Irish population is overweight or obese and the numbers rise every year. Research also shows 26 per cent of seven-year-old girls and 18 per cent of boys are overweight or obese. Obesity is blamed for an estimated 2,000 premature deaths in Ireland each year, while the indirect cost is estimated at €400 million. The taskforce made a range of recommendations for Government, the health and education sectors, planners and the food industry to implement.
Although it called for implementation to be led at the highest level in Government, the Department of the Taoiseach passed responsibility to the Department of Health. Last December, Ms Wallace set up a 28-strong review group.
Its report calls for priority to be given to concerted Government action, measures to increase physical activity among children and continued awareness programmes of the dangers of junk food and the benefits of exercise. It says there is evidence that many health professionals are failing to recognise the onset of overweight and obesity, particularly in children.
Irish Sports Council chief executive John Treacy, who chaired the original taskforce, agreed that significant progress had been made, but said a major cultural shift in attitudes towards physical activity and healthy eating was needed if levels of the disease were to be cut.
He expressed disappointment that the taskforce’s call for 30 minutes of physical activity for every schoolchild was rejected. Other recommendations that were not implemented include a code of practice governing industry sponsorship and funding in schools and discrimination in industry grants in favour of healthy products.
Ms Wallace said a national nutrition policy, which has been promised for two years, would be published in June.