Long-awaited nutrition policy delayed by cutbacks

THE DEVELOPMENT of a long-promised national policy on nutrition has been put on the back burner because of a lack of resources and differences within the Department of Health over initial drafts.

The department says a national nutrition policy remains an “ultimate objective” but there are no immediate plans for its publication. This is in spite of repeated promises by ministers and the department in recent years that publication of the policy was imminent.

A national policy on nutrition was first proposed after the National Taskforce on Obesity report was published in 2005 and is seen by experts as an important plank in efforts to promote healthy eating and to counteract the rise in obesity.

The department last month refused a freedom of information request by The Irish Times for documents relating to the policy, saying the public interest would be better served by the non- release of the information at this time. When the schedule of documents not being disclosed was sought, this newspaper was told there were none.

In refusing the freedom of information request, the department said the document was being reviewed “against a background of competing priorities for the department and the availability of the necessary resources”. Since the publication of the obesity taskforce report, the focus had begun to shift towards delivering practical nutritional guidelines for specific sectors of the population.

It is understood that the initial draft of the policy did not find favour with civil servants. "It was too long on background and short on concrete measures, so it was back to the drawing board," an official with the department's health promotion policy unit told The Irish Times.

The official said no committee of experts had been set up to oversee the preparation of the document, as is normal, and admitted that it was “strange” that there were no documents on file apart from drafts of the policy.

In November 2005, Seán Power, the junior minister in the department, promised the policy would be published early in 2006 and would provide strategic direction on nutrition for the next decade.

In February 2008, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said it would be published “in the coming months”. Two months later, junior minister Pat the Cope Gallagher said it was “in the final stages” of development, and his successor in the department, Mary Wallace, said in May that year it would be published “later this year”.

In June 2009, the department said the policy would be published by September. However, according to the official, there was “no reality” behind any of these dates.

More than 60 per cent of Irish people are overweight or obese and consumption of alcohol in Ireland is among the highest in OECD states.