Child obesity: Children and Youth Affairs Committee to discuss fast food and play areas near schools

The meeting at 9:30 a.m. in Committee Room 1 can be viewed live here and on Android and Apple devices using the Houses of the Oireachtas app.

This will be the Committee’s tenth and final meeting since March to examine the forces driving the rise of child obesity in Ireland. The Committee expects to publish its Report on Tackling Child Obesity in November.

Scheduled witnesses include

• Louth County Council Chief Executive Joan Martin, representing the County and City Management Association; and 
• Colin Ryan, senior planning advisor at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 

These officials are expected to discuss existing goals contained in certain County Development Plans, notably in Dublin and Wexford, which limit the development of new fast-food outlets near schools, and whether such rules would be practical in other locations.

They also are expected to explore the debate over retaining green space for playing fields near schools, particularly in urban settings where demand for development land is high.

“Our society needs to set new priorities – dietary, social, infrastructural and economic – to reverse the rise of child obesity and help our young people lead more energetic, healthier lives,” said Committee Chairman Alan Farrell TD.

“Our meetings with stakeholders – including parents and schools, dieticians and sociologists, sports bodies, advertisers and TV programmers – to examine various aspects of this issue have created a complex but nonetheless clearly focused picture for the Committee,” Deputy Farrell said.

“As a Committee, we are determined that our conclusions and recommendations to be published next month will address the challenges of childhood obesity,” he said. “We must work to equip our future generations with the support and tools they will need to lead healthier lives.”