Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 March 2021
808. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 788 and 789 of 17 February 2021, when the obesity policy and action plan will be reviewed in 2021; the process for same; if his Department will be meeting stakeholders or undertaking a consultation process in relation to same; the timeline for the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11348/21]
View answerA Healthy Weight for Ireland’, the Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP), was launched in September 2016 as part of the Healthy Ireland Framework. The OPAP covers a 10-year period up to 2025 and aims to reverse obesity trends, prevent health complications and reduce the overall burden for individuals, families, the health system, and the wider society and economy. The Plan contains a total of 60 actions organised under the themes of “Ten Steps Forward”. The final action, Action 10.11, is to “Conduct a mid-term review of the Obesity Policy and Action Plan”.
There are a number of pieces of work which will inform the mid-term review of the Obesity Policy and Action Plan. An Implementation Progress Report on the actions within the Plan was published in February 2021. A Strategic Action Plan for the wider Healthy Ireland Framework, covering the years 2021-2025 is nearing completion and is expected to be finalised in Q1 2021. The development of the Strategic Action Plan involved an extensive consultation process with stakeholders. An evaluation of the OPAP is also being carried out by the Health Research Board Centre for Health and Diet Research, University College Cork and it is expected that this will be available in the second quarter of 2021. All of these will feed into and inform the process of the review, and the Obesity Policy Implementation and Oversight Group will also provide input. It is expected that the review will be completed before the end of 2021.
