GAA to present ideas on combatting childhood obesity to Children & Youth Affairs Committee

GAA community and health manager Colin Regan is scheduled to detail the sports body’s current fitness programmes and areas for development at 9:30 a.m. in Committee Room 1.

Current programmes include the GAA’s Healthy Club Project that already has designated 150 of the association’s 1,600 clubs as centres for promoting healthy, active choices on and off the pitch. As part of this effort, the GAA is promoting a Recipes for Success programme that gives young athletes practical cooking lessons focused on nutrition and performance.

The Committee has held six fact-finding meetings since March into the reasons why Irish children are increasingly likely to be overweight or obese and to identify strategies for reversing the trend.

“The Committee’s goal is to identify the best and brightest ideas for promoting healthier lifestyles and to help the nation’s young make smart improvements in their activities and their diets,” said Committee Chairman Alan Farrell TD. “As Ireland’s largest sports body with clubs in every corner of every county, the GAA presents a tremendous platform for driving positive change at grass-roots level.”

Wednesday’s meeting can be viewed live here.

It also can be viewed live on Android and Apple devices using the Houses of the Oireachtas app.