Obese Irish children could grow up with shorter life-expectancies than their parents, an Oireachtas Committee heard today.
The National Taskforce on Obesity told the Health & Children Committee that 39 per cent of the population was overweight, of which 18 per cent were obese.
Taskforce chairman and former Olympic athlete John Treacy warned that the problem was a major threat to the health of the nation.
He told the all-party body that obesity rates were still growing by 1 per cent each year.
"We have a problem, we need to be more proactive," he said. "We need to stop the rise in obesity and reverse it.
A report produced last May by the Taskforce made 93 recommendations to change public attitudes and behaviour so the problem can be successfully resolved.
The Government allocated €3 million in the 2006 Estimates to implement the proposals.
Mr Treacy added: "There can be no argument that the issue is now firmly on the political and social agenda. This is the first step towards changing attitudes and ultimately behaviours."
The Irish Sports Council chief executive officer noted that government health campaigns were competing with robust food and drink advertising in Ireland which totalled 132 million euro in 2003.
Mr Treacy said overweight and obese conditions can lead to major health problems like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, angina, heart attacks, osteoarthritis and psychosocial problems.
He noted that one in five Irish adults take no exercise and only 40% take enough to meet the World Health Organisation minimum standards. He added:
- Up to 300,000 children on the island of Ireland are overweight or obese.
- Obesity also contributes to 2,000 deaths a year.
- It incurs €30 million health service costs
- Leads to indirect costs of €4 billion to the economy.
Mr Treacy also called for schools to promote healthy eating and provide two hours of PE a week.
Up to 27 per cent of second-level pupils get little or no sport, he noted.