Obesity will continue to be a problem for at least the next three generations, and current approaches to prevention have failed, a leading nutritionist said yesterday.
Professor of food and health in UCD, Michael Gibney, predicted that "personalised nutrition" would become the big trend of the future where individuals and families would be able to have their diet tailor-made to their own nutrition and health requirements.
"At present, dietary advice is aimed at the population as a whole, but genetic testing will enable optimum personal diets to be prescribed," he said.
Recent surveys by UCD have shown that 75 per cent of people would be willing to undergo genetic testing in order to optimise their diet.
Prof Gibney predicted an era of "massive regulation" in the future where rigid scientific proof will have to be provided by food manufacturers for all health advantages on the label.
Meanwhile, leading public health specialist Prof Patrick Wall of UCD, chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, told another conference that closing down all the McDonald's or banning the sale of Coca-Cola "won't change the national shape" and tackle the rising levels of obesity here.
He said a new "BSE - blame someone else" epidemic accompanied the obesity epidemic. Blame someone else - blame the Government, blame the school, blame the media, blame the food industry, finally blame the individual is the regular approach," Prof Wall told the Beverage Council of Ireland annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry.
Depending on what measuring methods were used, there had been a two to fourfold increase in obesity among children since 1990, with up to 16.3 per cent of girls and 11.2 per cent of boys between 8 and 12 obese. Levels of obesity had also risen among adults in the late 1990s.
Prof Wall said the country was "sitting on a health time bomb" with people more sedentary and "the calories in and calories out equation was out of kilter".
"Dashboard dining," common already in the US where 15 per cent of all food was eaten in cars, was now catching on here as was obvious from any garage forecourt.
Long commutes meant people were eating on the move, and two people working meant there was no time for food preparation so more convenience foods were bought, and overall there was less time for exercise.
Some 70 per cent of the seven to 10-year-olds in Ireland spend at least three hours a day sitting in front of a screen and this could be PlayStation, TV or computer, Prof Wall said.
He criticised the celebrity endorsement of "obesogenic products" showing a slide of Posh Spice/Victoria Beckham promoting Walkers Crisps.
Sport now was "all about winning" and there needed to be a refocus on participation, he said.