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Updated, 11.49
THE GOVERNMENT IS considering banning fast-food restaurants from areas near schools, in a bid to tackle the problem of child obesity.
One in four Irish children is now overweight, with one in every 14 classified as obese, according to a new report launched yesterday by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald.
The figures are significantly higher for girls than for boys, with almost one in three female children – 30 per cent – qualifying as overweight or obese. The equivalent figure among boys is 22 per cent.
Minister Fitzgerald said there was a problem with the availability of unhealthy food. “I believe we need to look at regulating the proliferation of fast-food outlets,” she said.
She added that the UK already restricts new takeaways from opening within 400metres of schools, youth clubs or parks, but there is “no such similar national provision in the Irish planning framework.”
The Minister said the Government is now giving “active consideration” to measures “including regulating the proliferation of fast-food outlets”.
The Growing Up In Ireland study, which looks at nine-year-olds, shows a strong link between social class and weight. Just under 19 per cent of children from professional households are overweight or obese. The figure for children from semi- and unskilled employment households is around 34 per cent, rising to 38 per cent among girls.
Children from lower socio-economic group households tend to live further from food shops, particularly larger supermarkets with more fresh fruit and vegetables, the report said.
Parents often had little awareness of their child’s weight problems, with 54 per cent of parents of overweight children reporting that their child was “about the right” weight for their height. The figure was 20 per cent among parents of obese children.
However, weight perception had a significant impact on the child’s image of themselves. Children who perceive themselves as under or overweight are more likely to suffer emotional and behavioural difficulties, the report stated.
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Yeah have the chipper further away so they can lose weight walking the further distance.
Take the playstations away and get them outside problem solved!!
Cost of an apple is about 70c. At the same a multipack of own brand choc bars in tesco costs similar. For some people it is not financially viable to eat healthy all the time especially if one has one or more kids. Education is key here for both the parents and children. And it is not just people on welfare or the less well of that eat unhealthy as I know several “well of” folks that are a biscuit away from diabetes!! Also I notice nobody has mentioned exercise!! No such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes!!
70c!!! What kind of apples are you eating? Gold plated?
If a person is disadvantaged, does that make them ill informed, ignorant and uneducated? I don’t think so. It’s the advertising by food companies in this country that needs to be regulated.
If someone chooses to eat a bag of chips, a battered sausage & a can of coke every day for their dinner and for their kids dinner would you consider this person to be well informed, open minded and educated?
I for one certainly wouldn’t.
Things are going to get worse and worse in this country until there is drastic action taken.
I agree with Lauren, I think actions need to be taken to ENCOURAGE people to eat healthy, NOT to force them.
Eh Lauren says they should be forced.
How many times can you say “these people” …irritating to say the least
@ Lauren “It’s too late to educate these people, they need to be forced into doing the right thing.” Jesus wept can you hear yourself?
Why not cull a few of “them” while you’re at it.
Maybe we should bring back the workhouses for “these people”. If they cannot learn how to get a job, we should force them to work for us until they learn. Not only would it solve obesity, but we could also get free labour for things like polishing our shoes doing our ironing.
Perhaps if that is too extreme, if “these people” cannot learn to be fabulous, we should at least force them to be fabulous.
Dunno if that would help, educating the parents that’s what’s needed and also the kids so they know what sort of rubbish their eating and can choose not to eat it. Advertising unhealthy food shouldnt be allowed before the watershed…but then that’s all about money.
“It shows a strong link between social class and weight”
All social classes are exposed to advertising. People just like to lay blame. The fault I believe lies with the government in that they are giving money to these people to choose what food to buy themselves. If they received food stamps that forced them to buy certain healthier foods there are a number of distinct advantages. As I stated earlier everyone would be better off. These people would be happier, healthier and enjoy a better lifestyle. Numerous studies have proved this.
It’s too late to educate these people, they need to be forced into doing the right thing. Why waste more money trying to educate them? Being forced to eat a proper diet may actually encourage them to educate themselves.
These companies are doing nothing wrong by advertising, the whole point of a company is to make money. They are legally obliged to do whatever they can (legally) to make money for their shareholders. Why wouldn’t they advertise?
@ Lauren.
People should be able to deciede what they eat themselves, i think your idea is totaly ridiculous.
Lets say there was “fake tan police” telling you what shade of colour to be, and lets say they told that you couldnt be orange, like you are in your picture. Im sure you’d change your tune fast enough.
@Jason
Your point here is ridiculous. First off I don’t wear fake tan. My mother is from Brazil.
I agree that people should be allowed to eat what they want, when they can pay for it themselves and when they are well enough informed to eat a balanced diet. The fact of the matter is that what some people are doing to their children is a form of abuse. Feeding them rubbish to the point of obesity is completely wrong. How can you say that there is nothing wrong with this? Just because these people are ignorant makes it OK? If the government can step in and change this then why shouldn’t they? Is the point of the government not to do what is best for the people of the country? I don’t see how you can argue the point that forcing people to eat more healthy food is wrong.
They could start by encouraging people but failing that then they should indeed be forced.
Maybe it’s all the beta-carotene in the carrots Lauren eating and not the fake tan at all…
I thumbed up your comment because you made me laugh. You are so delusional its funny and sad at the same time.
Fair enough if your mother is from brazil but your dad must be an orange or Your wearing fake tan.
@Jason
This goes to show how closed minded you are. You obviously have no experience of meeting people from other cultures and climates.
Oh poor Lauren, how could you know that. You stalkin me or something??
While I think that Lauren’s comments are ridiculous, bordering on the offensive, they are less ridiculous and offensive then hurling personal insults. Respond to the argument or STFU
God Lauren, if they all looked liked you I’d definitely be up for the ” experience of meeting people from other cultures and climates”.
Eoin, i am on welfare so her comments are directed at me and i find them insulting.
@Jason
My comments are not intended to be insulting. I am simply offering my viewpoint on how best to deal with the obesity among children in this country and I see healthy food stamps as a way of solving this problem.
People on welfare need to eat, so what is the harm in restricting what someone eats to healthy food. If it can stamp out obesity then where are the downsides? Obesity is an awful infliction and if this problem can be eradicated it is better for everyone.
@lauren
By that logic, why limit your food stamp idea to “disadvantaged” people? Since obesity is such an awful affliction and although it affects the poor more than the well off, there are still many obese people who are well off financially. So why not have a system whereby food could only be acquired through government issued food stamps, and so no matter how rich you were, you would only be able to access a limited quantity of healthy food? Obesity eliminated at a stroke for all sections of society.
@Jason
With regards the people who are financially well off then there is nothing can be done about these people. My point here is that the government is in a position to do something about the majority of children that do become obese.
The affects of childhood obesity are far worse than a lot of illegal drugs, here are a few:
Coronary Heart Disease
Type 2 diabetes
Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
Stroke
Liver and Gallbladder disease
Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
Osteoarthritis(a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
Gynecological problems(abnormal menses, infertility)
If I as a person were in a position to stop children developing these illnesses then I would do whatever would need to be done. Unfortunately I am not in this position but the government are and are not doing anything about it.
Well your methods are ham-handed at least, akin to locking up everybody in Ireland just to make sure you catch the criminals.
“It’s too late to educate these people”
@Lauren, we are talking about 10 year-old children here.
@Sean
Yes, have you had experience dealing with a ten year old child that has not been educated properly? That has been on a diet of rubbish food since they were born?
Good luck trying to encourage them to speak properly let alone eat a healthy diet.
Lauren you havnt got a clue love. Every single comment you made I have found offensive. I’m dependent totally on the state as I have 2 disabled children and can no longer work. I have worked since I’m 13 years of age and had to give it up for my sons. So do you really think myself and my sons should be forced to live on fruit and veg just because of our circumstances??? I think not. If I chose to eat a pizza on a Friday that’s my choice. And if people with a mind set like yours ever get into power. All I’ll say is welcome to an uprising. With me on the front line.
@Jeannette
What exactly do you find offensive about my comments? That I want to make children in Ireland healthier and happier? Do you not realise that there is a huge problem with obesity among Irish children?
I don’t think substituting say 50 euro of your social welfare for healthy food stamps could warrant an uprising.
Food stamps should be given out instead of money to the so called “disadvantaged” people. If they are not able to choose the right foods to buy then the decision should be made for them. It would be in their own best interests and the interests in everyone else that will end up footing their hospital bills later in life.
Maybe you should also include forced exercise,calisthenics and rationing as well. I doubt that you would appreciate the food police coming in to your life and telling you what to eat or drink.
Call me superficial, but a hot chick wins the argument every time. Food stamps for the poor people and mingers!
If the food I was eating was causing me to be come depressed, obese and shorten my lifespan then I certainly would appreciate someone coming and forcing me to change my ways. If I was not capable of doing it myself then I would see absolutely nothing wrong with someone else forcing me to choose a better lifestyle. Not only would it make me as a person happier but it would make society better as a whole.
Can you enlighten me on the downside of forcing people to eat fruit and vegetables instead of burgers and chips?
eh….. maybe the “forcing” bit…………..
That’s how it’s done over here.
There are very shuttered views about why people eat what they eat. Just because somebody wears a tracksuit and lives in a council flat doesn’t mean they don’t know how/won’t bother to eat healthily. People traditionally learn how to cook from their parents and in certain disadvantaged families where say, a member of their family has died or become addicted to gambling, drugs, alcohol or any other substance can find themselves unable to perform basic domestic functions due to lack of good example. This can carry across generations in some cases. Education is most definitely a very good option.
Education & legislation are key just looking around its far cheaper to fill your shopping trolley full of bad processed foods then actually consider buying a pieces of fresh meats/fish. Cost in my opinion is a key factor this also includes the cost of involving children in activities the cost of clothing, equipment let alone making sure that they are safe while doing so.
Look at how society has changed as a whole CONVINCE lifestyle springs to mind! Huge supermarkets, choice of foods, lifestyle changes its a far cry from what I was used to growing up and I’m still extremely young I’d say I must have had potatoes and either meat or fish nearly every night and trust me no such thing as of fast food restaurants in my youth that was a complete luxury! And I’ll never forget the day my mammy discovered pasta!!
Society has changed children are less likely to be allowed to roam freely outside I spent years playing outside freely with no real parent supervision as such playing with other children I assume that was my quota for exercise back then! As for school PE consisted of a hour a week playing football!
Family structures have changed many had one parent staying at home to mind there children who freely had more time to cook and directly involve themselves in after school activities for there children. Much more pressure on parents who both work to cover the basic of cost of living again driven by society!! I often used to watch my friends cook there own meals when they were old enough and yes very unhealthy though lots of healthy choices available to them but as a teenager hmm I know what my choice would have been back them A lovely plate of chips!
Food stamps won’t work. Anyone who remembers butter vouchers will know what I mean.
“Hey mister. Can ya gimme smokes for these yokes?”
“No problem.”
Alan above beat me to it. Where is the mention of exercise? That’s far more important when dealing with obesity.
When I went to secondary school in Ireland, there was no P.E. after first year. Extra curricular sports were reserved for the talented. It was very poor. A secondary school abroad included P.E. on the curriculum up to final year and students were graded on their fitness and effort
In terms of buying healthy food, there are limited options and incentives when money becomes an issue. As someone pointed out already, an apple costs the same price as a 6 pack of chocolate bars in some stores. Do we really think that taxing the chocolate bars is going to make people buy the apple instead?
Get real.
Indeed. A little unrealistic to say the least.
I recall they tried this a while back in England. Parents rebelled against what they called ‘nanny-statism’ by bringing burgers and chips at lunchtime and passing em through the school gates to their kids. If their own parents don’t care……
I think Lauren has a point here in terms of encouraging people to eat fresh unprocessed food, both for their own sake and the sake of future health care costs, but you can’t force people to. There is a great deal of ignorance across all social classes about healthy eating. You only have to go to the Marks & Spencer food hall to see that most of the space is dedicated to ready meals / sweets / biscuits etc. People say they are ‘time poor’ but how long does it take to make a healthy meal compared to heating a ready meal in the oven or calling the takeaway? The food industry is very powerful and wants us to spend on processed ready meals instead of making our own. A big bag of porridge oats costs around 2.50, it would provide breakfast for a family for 10 days or so. A big box of sugar puffs costs about 4 euro, leads to a massive sugar crash, possible diabetes in the long term, and will last about 4 days. We all need to take personal responsibility for what we fuel our bodies with.
Lots of primary schools have a healthy lunch policy now and also don’t know of any primary schools that would let 9 year olds out at lunchtime! If the study was done of secondary schools I’d certainly agree!
thought this idiotic government was supposed to be creating not putting people out of business…..
I don’t think you can control what people put in their mouths, that’s just not right. And welfare shouldn’t even be targeted here. Food stamps are primarily used to prevent people spending money on Drugs and Alcohol. This doesn’t foster the understanding that one should eat well, more that the government are trying to remedy symptoms instead of the root causes.
With legislation and careful use of taxation, food could be made healthier and more available. Removing tax on fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and dairy produce would make this produce more competitive with processed foods. By increasing tax on certain foods such as sweets and cakes based upon a coefficient of saturated fat, salt, artificial preservatives and other factors could also both discourage the public from buying the more harmful foods and also encourage processed food manufacturers to create products which are healthier.
The last time I received any form of public service education on healthy eating was from a McDonalds ad, before then it was in National School, before I could understand such a thing. More education is definately a good option.
Can not agree with you more!
Part of the problem here is that children nowadays don’t even know how to cook a decent meal. It’s all prepared microwave meals and hoe deli foods. Go into any supermarket or hot food deli during or after school hours and see what students are buying. Then it’s off home to hours of TV or the PlayStation. A balanced diet and exercise are the only solutions to the rise of obesity. I say this with some friends of mine who were over weight and who put into action a proper diet and exercise regime and who are now almost unrecognizable from old photos.
To say that people should be on food stamps and made eat what they are told is akin to creating a food dictatorship of the worst order. What next? Queuing for your daily rations so you won’t eat the whole lot in the one go. Will we all be given cards so that we can only buy a certain number of units of alcohol each week? Perhaps we will all be forced to go vegetarian, ban dairy products, coffee and sweets. Lets round up everyone for an hours enforced exercise at the community “health and well being plaza”. Jail and starve those people who are overweight until they conform to universal health standards. Did I leave anything out?
The problem with restricting fast food takeaways to be outside a 400 meter exclusion zone of a school is that it would rule out these outlets from most towns and villages in the country. Think about your locality, where your local school is and how far away a chipper would have to be located to conform to the proposed new rules. The town of Mallow in Co Cork for instance would not be allowed to open any new chippers as one of the schools there are is within 400 meters of the main street. It’s the same with Bandon, Middleton, Charleville, Mitchelstown and Fermoy to name but a few. Even closing the chipper will not stop your local Centra, SV,Londis selling food from the hot food counter. One seaside town that I know of has a shop that has to use a system to control the hoards of pupils that come in everyday to buy their fried chicken and spicey wedges.
yeh lets close down fast food outlets and put a few more thousand on the dole. what a stupid idea, don’t they realise kids can go to their local chipper after school? the government should put pressure on irresponsible parents not small businesses. if a kid is seen to be eating burgers every lunchtime the parents should be called in for a meeting, treat it like they were coming into school with bruises because lets face it turning your child obese is a form of child abuse!
Outside? ….In Ireland? Have you looked outside? Thats like Obesity vs Pneumonia
Never did me any harm
Just wondering what proposition Lauren has for the professional parents who pick up the takeaways on the way home from work or raid the fridge/freezer for the ready made meals! These parents are as much to blame as the rest of us!
Its upto the parents and the schools to combat obesity. P.E is totally inadequate in this country. It should be a hours PE daily for every child . Not the type of PE we are used to where the teacher gives a ball too the lads and fucks off for the hour. From the child hits secondary school gym work and proper work outs will combat this better than a Nazi type idea to forcing children to eat healthy.
This is the type of not thought out and not joined up thinking , which is already responsible for closing down thousands of retail outlets in Town Centre’s, throughout our little Country.
There is now so much restriction on what a retailer can open in Town , that they then head to shop units in out of Town Centres, rather then face up to the idiotic bureaucracy which prevails in Local Authority Planning Offices.
Why is it that retail commerce is being handed over entirely to foreign multiple retailers , whom local Planners and Local Authorities salivate, while giving every assistance to locating in , out of town centres, thus making Ghost Towns of Downtown Retail Streets.
@ Lauren – while your idea may be right, your method is askew. Sure, forcing people to eat healthy might sound good but where do you stop? Force them to believe a particular religion? Force them to accept a government without elections? Force them into an army?
As for the proposal itself, it seems to be this new wave of absolving people of education and making the right choices. Hide the drink!! Hide the cigarettes!! Now, hide the fast food.
This will do nothing. People need to take responsibility, especially as parents and teachers. Show people WHY it is wrong to eat too much fast food, drink too many fizzy drinks. The same goes for alcohol and tobacco. It is intrinsic in human nature to seek the illicit and all this does is make things more illicit without actually showing people why.
You can’t forcibly wrap people in bubble wrap.
@Paul
I’m not talking about forcing everyone. If you are completely dependent on the state then you should not have the choice to eat fast and unhealthy food.
If I happen to become depended on social welfare then I would see absolutely nothing wrong with the government giving me food stamps that would enable me to buy healthy food. I would be extremely grateful for this.
I can’t see that working in the way you’re imagining. People tend not to like being told what to do.
So basically it is only people who by no fault of their own who are out of work should be treated as an underclass and forced to do what you and the lucky people who have a job want them to do. Never mind the fact that the “disadvantaged” people as you call them ( I’ll leave it to readers to form an opinion as to why you you put that word in quotation marks), are actually educated and intelligent people. Never mind the fact that for the most part the people who are on welfare may have contributed for years to PRSI so it is their contributions that the are receiving.Maybe we should make those people wear special badges on their jackets that prohibit them from entering certain premises in case they waste their money on goods and services that have not been approved by the state. Hell, why not just not round them up into camps all together and dole out their rations there all together!
@ Matthew
So what do people prefer free money and to spend it irresponsibly, hmmm.
Lauren, you also fail to realize that people on the dole aren’t necessarily what I think you might believe them to be. If i found myself out of work tomorrow I would feel a deep entitlement to my benefits as it is money which I have paid consistently throughout my employment. And if those benefits were swapped for stamps I’d be on the streets in protest.
@Brian
I don’t see how this would be treating them as underclass. I see it as a way of ensuring that people eat more healthy. If the government were to deduct say 50 euro from a social welfare payment and exchange this for food stamps enabling people to buy healthy food then how would this not benefit the people? Not only would they get the food cheaper than buying with cash but it would also create jobs in the local economy.
Children would not be obese, more attentive in class and have a happier healthier lifestyle. I don’t understand how you can see a problem with this? Is it because someones pride might be dented using these stamps? As they say – pride comes before a fall and it is exactly a fall that people will get if they continue eating and feeding their children fast and unhealthy food. My proposition of food stamps, while obviously not popular with a lot of people, would be far better than the system that is currently in place.
The issue here is a lot bigger than peoples pride.
Lauren I don’t need anyone to tell me how to buy healthy food. Maybe I am an exception to the rule but even though I am a single male I am able to shop for the best products at the right price, cook a meal from scratch and manage to stay healthy at the same time. How food stamps would make food cheaper is beyond me, do you really think that producers will drop their price for a product because it is on a Government food stamp program. As for my pride, it’s bad enough having to line up once a month to sign on and once a week to claim welfare without your proposal for me to queue up at the food stamp counter in my local supermarket.
What you are basically saying is that I as a single man with no children is incapable of shopping responsibly. You are saying that unemployed friends of mine who have kids are incapable of fending for the welfare of their children because they are on social welfare. In fact, in your own words “what some people are doing to their children is a form of abuse”! How will all this change if and when I get a job? Will I have a sudden epiphany and become a health food freak or will I have to undergo a probation period to make sure I din’t suffer a relapse and pig out on fried chicken and chocolate?
What I do find interesting is that you singled out people on welfare when the article and the study refers to a higher rate of obesity in semi and unskilled employment households. So why are you picking on the unemployed and how do you propose to impose your food stamp idea on the semi/unskilled employed. Will companies be forced to pay some of those peoples wages in food stamps? Maybe there should be Government fitted timers fitted to TV’s restricting the amount of time that children and adults are allowed to watch TV. Ban school bus’s and make children walk to school or at least the last mile anyway.
does lauren realise the dole is only 188 a week, for most people that doesnt even cover rent and bills let alone food
God Lauren your a total Twat. Take that silver spoon from your mouth. We’re not all as rich and privileged with money as you come across as being. Money really doesn’t buy common sense.
With regards to the article I don’t think banning fast food outlets is what’s needed. Education is the key, children need to be educated at school on healthy food and I would say PE needs to be strictly bought into all schools, social class just shouldn’t come into it. When I was in secondary school we got 20mins PE a week and then nothing once we reached our final year, this was maddness. If children develop a love of exercise they start to love their own bodies and they become more aware of foods that are good for them. All the kids on estates that I knew when I was younger were short skinny and malnourished looking and lived off sweets and coke, so we can’t just assume cause a kid is overweight they’re the only ones that are unhealthy. ‘Skinny’ people can be as equally unhealthy.
I also think we need to stop banging on about kids being overweight and needing to loose weight. We seem to be becoming obsessed with pushing forward this overweight thing when the focus should be primarily on leading a healthy lifestyle. If you eat the right foods and you get the right amount of exercise everyday then so what if you’re a size 14. I know size 8 people with high cholesterol and diabetes.
Also they looked at 9 year old kids. Correct me if I’m wrong but many 9 year old girls are on the cusp of puberty at that age and their bodies start to lay down fat for that. Lets not encourage them to developing eating disorders at such a fragile age. Promote healthy eating and exercise not this obsession about how much some one weighs.
@Lauren –
Firstly – Why do you seem to think that everyone who has ever been on the Dole must be some lazy ignorant Obese good for nothing?
While it may be correct that rates of Obesity are higher for the long term disadvantaged(*shudder at using this term) – this group still have minds, voices and choices.
Giving everyone the information and the support to make the positive changes in their lives will have a much more beneficial result what ever the demographic.
You seem determined to force a situation rather than give the information and skills to ppl to change their lives if they so choose?
I can only imagine teaching all children from an early age to make soup or a cupcake as having a more positive long term effect than giving them some carrots and leaving them to it!!
@Poppy
You have no idea what you are talking about. This discussion has nothing to do with my financial situation. The problem here is that more and more children are becoming obese through no fault of their own.
If people are not able to make the correct decisions then they should be forced to, If someone physically abuses a child there are procedures in place to deal with them, they can be sent to prison. When it comes to feeding a child rubbish to the point where they are obese then that’s fine is it?
You go on to say that education is the key, have you tried to teach some of these “disadvantaged” kids. Most of them can barely read, write or talk, how do you expect them to learn how to eat healthily?
@Veronica
I never said that everyone on the dole is lazy and ignorant. What I am saying is that the parents of any obese child (bar those caused by medical conditions) are completely ignorant. What would you call them? Well informed?
@Sean
People are misconstruing what I am saying here. Why are people so hell bent on allowing misguided people continue abusing themselves and their children?
While I do acknowledge that my methods might appear to some people as draconian, what I am suggesting would benefit society as a whole.
People don’t seem to get that I want society to improve, everyone who is disagreeing with me is in effect happy to let society deteriorate, obesity spiral out of control and will ultimately end up laying the blame on someone else.
The simple fact of the matter is that the government is in a position to improve and lengthen the lives of hundreds of thousands of people but can’t/won’t do it because the people, like these people where who are disagreeing with me, simply wouldn’t like it.
Go home? Is that a racist taunt there Sean?
I suppose if the government get on with ruling our every move, they will soon control every action. The sheep will follow the leader, individual choice is being eroded, freedom of choice is being undermined. We are slowly slipping into some sort of nightmare worthy of George Orwell………….
the batter burger police are on the way…..
Sounds like a nanny state to me. If you inform people on their food and life choices you might get somewhere, moving chippers further down the road is a bit stupid in all fairness, what’s next? no convenience stores near schools? kids will always source junk food. As for the food stamps comment, Christ almighty, what ever your justifications are based on facts you can’t remove peoples liberty to choose what they spend their money on, chocolate or vegetables you still should have the right to choose. regardless of social class its an issue, there’s plenty of fat men in suits so we shouldn’t just vilify disadvantaged groups.
once again your singing the tune to the gov…..its a tax to pay the bailout end of……..if they were so concerned they would have done something long ago and anyway o Rielly should show some example,by the look of him he had a few extra peking ducks while on his tax payers trip to China
And all of the ten grange it cost too this government are a disgrace They are like kids trying out new idea they have not got a clue and as for James Reilly god love us (if we live through his term as minister) with the state if our hospitals and all the A+E’s he is shutting down
Study suggests “food stamps” contribute to childhood obesity http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-national/study-suggests-food-stamps-contribute-to-childhood-obesity
“The root of the problem can be traced in part to the food purchasing habits of the parents of children participating in SNAP. Left entirely to their own devices, these parents tend to choose high-fat, nutrient-poor foods to bring into the household.”
These stamps are not restricted to healthy foods. The stamps I am talking about could only be used for healthy food such as fish, fruit, vegetables etc.
Oh yeah, that reminds me will the government insist that Mac Donalds no longer get advertising there ‘food’ on the site of the ‘Childrens Hospital’?
More big government nonsense.
Healthy eating & living should be achieved through education not enforcement.
If someone is aware of the risks (or chooses to stay ignorant) and decides they still want to live an unhealthy lifestyle they should be allowed to do so.
There is also the issue of children of parents who provide a healthy diet at home and who allowed their children to eat the occasional unhealthy “treat”. Why should they not be allowed to make this choice.
All in all this is a really bad idea and sets a even worse precedent.
It’s all about habits, not chipper proximity. I notice in the Supermarket – whether Lidl or Tosco – Asian and East European shopping baskets are full of healthy veg & fruit while the average Irish shopping basket contains majority heavy high carb food. Same shop, different habits.
In 2000 I got a Dublin City Council flier through the door about the Port Tunnel. It said the playground in Fairview Park would be replaced with a temporary one until 2010. How I laughed! My 10-yr-old son would be 21!!! It’s now 2011, my son is 22, and STILL no proper playground!!! And they blame chips!!
And pubs, they’re ok I suppose?
“The Growing Up In Ireland study, which looks at nine-year-olds” How many 9 year olds do you know that go the pub???
There is an enormous alcoholism problem across the country. Wake up to it. Try employing ‘lads’ who like to ‘have a drink’.
Why are you commenting about “lads that like to have a drink” and alcoholism in Ireland on a story about attempting to combat childhood obesity????? If you feel that strongly about it, get on to your local TD and ask them to move all pubs away from any kind of other business. Or better still, employ somebody you can trust not to come in hungover. Plenty of people on the dole
I’m 9… And I drink on a regular basis.
Banning chippers within a certain radius of schools is a typical knee jerk dim-witted quick response to these latest finding, sure lets copy what the Brits did!!
What else should we expect though from halfwits?
Education is key to combating obesity and a healthier living. I’m not aware of many children eating burgers and chips in the local chipper for lunch, or afterward. I see 90% of cars in the morning traffic are parents dropping off young Johnny and Mary so it’s safe to suspect kids don’t all go to a chipper afterwards either. It’s off home for the dinner/sports or facebook. Junk food is also more freely available than say a snack box, and parents buy this or give their children the money to wedges at Spar’s hot-counter.
It’s young children under 14 I believe the survey claims to be obese, not the 16 year olds and above.
In China many schools have exercise every morning, along with certain factories, morning stretching and simply getting the heart beating to wake people up. Could it be done in schools here is the question?
I could also suggest that the issue is when parents get home from work in the evening haven’t the energy to cook for the kids so its processed frozen food banged in the oven.
Anyway this new proposal is stupid and will be ineffective, unless moving it say 1000m from a school, then little Johnny may actually get some exercise in!
Whatever happened to the food dudes school program? It’s a great idea to get primary kids eating fruit at lunchtime.
It’s still going. My 7 year old just went through it. Once it’s over they don’t give a damn. It teaches kids that they’ll get something for nothing if they eat good food. As soon as the goodies stop being given out, the only goodies they’re interested in usually say Jacobs, Cadbury or Tayto on the wrapper.
Another ill-thought out government programme that’s more likely to encourage instant gratification then help with obesity.
Nearly Every shop and garage in Ireland sells sh**e fast food. Sweets, crisps , biscuits , Over cooked sausage rolls . You’re gonna have to close a lot of places. Total nonsense. Encourage better food and make it cheaper.
My school canteen sells plastic noodles in boiling water as their main lunch item. Enough said
School dinners!
I for one would pay to have my kids fed at school with a healthy lunch. Maybe also free vouchers for people like medical card holders etc. Or tax deductable for better off people. Remember butter vouchers? I used to get them and they could be swapped for other stuff, not just butter. The same would happen with food vouchers, a new black economy would be created. Food stamps would create another black economy, it wouldn’t be workable.
sorry got a bit excited at the last hurdle there!
Whatever Lauren is eating.. keep it up girl… It’s definitely working:-)
Europeans and Japanese and Americans are taller and healthier than they ever were in history.
They also live longer than ever.
I am chomping into a Big Mac.
I am doomed.
I dunno about this proposal, if they move fast food outlets 400 metre’s from schools do they seriously think kids won’t walk to them or are they supposed to and burn off the calories? I read a proposal about “these people” being given food stamps to buy healthy food but as many studies have shown poor diet is linked to low income, this will tend to alienate those on the food stamps – the poor, so not a great idea. We all agree that kids have to get more exercise but how to do this, I don’t think its fair to say its the job of the schools and PE, how many have the facilities these days? When I was at school once a week we walked a mile to a field and kicked a ball about for a couple of hours, these days many schools have fancy dedicated gyms but we want our kids doing well in maths, languages, sciences etc so when are they going to get the time to do all this PE, is it to be within the school day or outside it and if so, who’s going to supervise it?
We agree that kids need to eat healthier food, I’m guessing here, but lets say a bag of chips, a can of soft drink and a bar of chocolate costs €4, hard to believe but if you look at some of the chippies near schools at lunch time it certainly appears that parents do give their kids money to buy their lunch every day. There are a few options here, the obvious one is that the parents provide a healthy lunch for their own kids. The schools could provide a healthy option for the kids to buy, of course its not their job and if a child wants a chippie lunch he may simply choose this no matter what. The easiest way may be to make the chippies hard to get to, move them a lot further away from schools, educate parents and children and subsidise healthy foods, have healthy eating fairs, invite celebrity chefs etc but to force those on benefits to accept certain types of stamps telling them what to eat is demeaning and doomed to failure.
Home Ec was considered to be something just for girls when I was at school, and was in many ways marginalised and looked down on but maybe a revivial of a class similiar to Home Ec/life Classes in Schools starting in Primary is the way to go.
I am guessing that in previous generations they did not simply know how to cook etc by virtue of being born but received lessons from Families members etc. I think many of the skills my Nan’s generation for example knew have died out.
If we educate Children and give them the skills to know how to cook(and take care of themselves in general) and the sense of pride they can achieve from this it would be a much more positive step than banning everything. Also It should be carried out in all Schools across all demographics – obesity is not just for the “marginalised”!!
Changing the Culture and educating Children/Adults is a more proactive step. Not the easiest but perhaps the more long lasting.
Why were my comments deleted?
I have to agree with a lot of these comments, you can’t disagree with the truth. My son used to tell me how, when he was at college, he wanted to bring in his own noodles and just get some boiled wated but they charged for the boiled wated, I forget how much but we’re not talking a few cents. No encouragement there. You’re all right, there is little or no free playgrounds for kids, oh plenty of promises but few of them ever amount to anything. As for what the shops sell, right again, fast food sh**e, fine for those who want it but I wouldn’t mind the option at a reasonable price and not those things they pass off as decent food in McBurgers but is actually full of salt and sugar. Ah well, maybe some day, aye and maybe my cholesterol level will come down…
have your say