The Minister for Health has announced plans for a new national programme to encourage people to exercise more in order to combat increasing rates of obesity in the State.
Speaking at the launch of yesterday's National Health & Lifestyle Surveys, Mr Martin described the upward trend in the area as "unacceptable" and said the issue now needed to be prioritised.
The Minister also warned against complacency on smoking despite an overall decline in smoking rates. This trend makes the case for more anti-smoking initiatives and policy implementation rather than less.
Mr Martin added he was setting an "ambitious" target of reducing the overall smoking rate from 27 per cent to 20 per cent over the next four years, saying this could be achieved "if we work together as a society".
Commenting on the 3 per cent increase in the population's obesity rate, he said a more affluent society tended to be a more obese one. Having done a lot of work in the areas of smoking and drinking it was time to turn our attention to physical exercise, he said.
"I have asked the Health Promotion Unit to develop, in conjunction with other statutory and non-statutory groups, a national programme to encourage greater physical activity among the population."
Asked whether State funds would be better spent on promoting this campaign than on the proposed new national sports stadium, Mr Martin replied that a national stadium would be a statement to young people about how sport was valued in society, and how it was "equally deserving of investment".
As for alcohol consumption, Mr Martin noted the findings were mixed.
Welcoming the increase in the number of young people who had never consumed an alcoholic drink, he said: "This positive trend supports our current campaign approach, which has been specifically aimed at young people through the 'Less is More campaign'."
However, he said "it is alarming to discover that 30 per cent of the young people who responded to this study admitted to having experienced being 'really drunk'.
"Unfortunately the problem is not confined to young people. At present, over 30 per cent of males and 22 per cent of females consume more than the weekly-recommended alcohol limits.
"These statistics speak for themselves and point to a very worrying trend in Irish attitudes to alcohol."
He added he believed the fundamental issue underpinning alcohol consumption was "more disposable income", noting the bulk of the increase in binge-drinking among young people pre-dated the liberalisation of the licensing laws.
In addition, "binge drinking among young people, 15-16-year-olds, does not happen in pubs. Young people are getting alcohol from different sources," Mr Martin said.
Describing the report's findings as mixed, Prof Cecily Kelleher, of NUI Galway, who directed the survey team, said "there are a number of class structure variations in almost every area examined and these studies allow us to focus on the areas that need improvement."
