Vol. 503 No. 5
14 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Health and Children the action, if any, he will take as a result of a recent publication on the major research on lifestyles being carried out for the health promotion unit of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10480/99]
The publication to which the Deputy refers was commissioned by my Department in 1998. The report, the first of its kind in this country, focuses on two cross-sectional studies, SLÁN – survey of lifestyles, attitudes, and nutrition involving adults aged 18 and over and HBSC – health behaviour in school-aged children – involving schoolgoing children aged nine to 17 years. I am delighted that this information is now available because it will allow those involved in planning and implementing educational, promotional and preventative strategies that seek to improve people's health to undertake this task on the basis of sound reliable data. For the first time, we have a comprehensive set of data that relate to the health behaviours and beliefs of Irish adults and young people. The report gives gender, age and socio-economic breakdowns. The information contained therein will allow for a greater targeting of interventions given age and socio-economic associations with health risk behaviours identified in the survey.
It is my intention that this survey will be repeated at regular intervals and this will allow us to determine trends and allow for comparisons at regional and international level. This report will also be used, in the first instance, to inform the review of the 1995 health promotion strategy document which is now under way with a view to introducing a new health promotion strategy for the years 2000 to 2005.
