2013 Press Releases
Taxation policy may help reduce obesity
There is a need for large scale public policy initiatives (including taxation measures) to promote healthy diet and increased levels of physical activity according to Ivan Perry, UCC.
Professor Perry was speaking at a conference in UCC today on Health and Diet: Public Policy and Personal Choice across the Lifecourse. Professor Perry is Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCC and Director of the HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research.
Professor Perry said:
“There is currently an excessive focus on the role of personal choice in health related behaviour and a related focus on information campaigns designed to change peoples' behaviour in relation to diet and exercise. It is now clear that media campaigns to increase knowledge and awareness of health issues are largely ineffective unless supported by public policy measures designed to facilitate and support healthier choices.
This is the context in which the current proposal for a tax on sugar sweetened drinks has emerged. To change the culture in relation to diet and obesity in childhood, we need to move on several fronts at the same time; we need to highlight the issues of childhood obesity, provide clear dietary guidelines for parents and incentivise healthier choices through taxation. The impact of the tax on plastic bags provides a clear example of the success of this approach.
There is no magic bullet that will resolve the crisis of epidemic levels of obesity in children and adults in a short time. This will be a long haul. We need to be innovative and flexible in our policy responses and prepared to advance by trial and error if necessary. The default option of the food industry: defer taxation and other measures until we are absolutely certain they will work, is a recipe for inertia and continuing high levels of obesity, diabetes and chronic disease.”
The conference marks the first five years of work from the HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research and sets the stage for the next phase of funding. The conference will deal with topics such as 'Maternal nutrition and pregnancy outcome’, 'Care of self: operationalising dietary self-discipline during and after being diagnosed with chronic illness' and ’Diet, health and politics: translating evidence into policy action.’ (The full programme is in the email attachment). The conference takes place in Devere Hall in UCC today, Thursday 10 and tomorrow, Friday 11 October. The Centre is based on inter-institutional collaboration between University College Cork (UCC), University College Dublin (UCD), the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, Teagasc Food Research Centre and the Livinghealth Primary Care Centre,- Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
The national context in which the HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research operates is that:
• it is estimated that poor diet, lack of exercise, excess body weight and related risk factors account for over 40% of the estimated burden of disease ( suffering, disability and premature death) in Ireland based on the recently published WHO Global Burden of Disease study
• Rates of obesity in particular are growing worldwide reflecting profound societal changes in food consumption and levels of physical activity.
• In Ireland the estimated prevalence of overweight in adults is 37%, with a further 24% meeting current body mass index (BMI) criteria for obesity and approximately 25% of children meeting current international criteria for overweight and obesity.
• In a project led by UCC’s Centre for Health & Diet Research, the cost of overweight and obesity in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were estimated for 2009 at €1.13 billion and €510 million, accounting for 2.7% and 2.8% of total health expenditure, respectively.
Ends
About the HRB Centre for Health & Diet Research (CHDR)
• As a society we need to respond to this crisis in nutrition and health at multiple levels, including broad public policy initiatives, population and individual level social marketing and health promotion interventions and clinical interventions for severe obesity in children and adults.
• This agenda defines the mission of the Centre for Health & Diet Research which is to promote the nutrition related health and wellbeing of the population by producing and effectively disseminating high-quality evidence to guide policy and practice in public health nutrition, including research on the determinants and modifiers of food choice and other food related behaviours.
• The centre was established in 2008 with funding support from the Irish Health Research Board (HRB) and the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
• From the outset, the Centre has been based on inter-institutional collaboration between University College Cork (UCC), University College Dublin (UCD), the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, Teagasc Food Research Centre and the Livinghealth Primary Care Centre,- Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
• Within UCC, the Centre draws on contributions from a number of Departments, including Epidemiology & Public Health, Food Business and Development, Nutrition, Medicine and the HRB Clinical Research Facility at the Mercy Hospital (CRF).
• The Centre draws on expertise from a wide range of academic disciplines across the participating Departments and Institutions, including nutrition science, public health nutrition, epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical trials, food marketing, consumer behaviour, public health informatics, obstetrics, endocrinology, primary care, public health advocacy and research dissemination.
• The Centre has developed formal and informal links with all of the key national agencies and stakeholders working in food and health, including safefood Ireland, the Irish Health Service Executive and the Department of Health.
• The Centre is involved with and/ or collaborating with other major national research programmes with relevant data and expertise, including the SLAN 2007 National Health & Lifestyle Study, the Growing up in Ireland children’ cohort study and the Irish LongituDinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).
• The Centre also works with a wide range of international partners.
• Over the past 5 years the CHDR has met its core objective of producing nationally and internationally competitive research in Public Health Nutrition. The Centre has actively disseminating outputs through academic and general media routes and it is engaging effectively with policy stakeholders.
• The success of the HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research has highlighted what can be achieved when there is a significant and sustained commitment to a well-defined topic from a major funding agency such as the HRB.
• Over the past 5 years the CHDR has met its core objective of producing nationally and internationally competitive research in Public Health Nutrition. The Centre has actively disseminating outputs through academic and general media routes and it is engaging effectively with policy stakeholders.
• The success of the HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research has highlighted what can be achieved when there is a significant and sustained commitment to a well-defined topic from a major funding agency such as the HRB.