SICK TO HER STOMACH...
»Star shocked by health gap between rich & poor Less well-off likelier to die early and get cancer
I found it very difficult to see their struggles and then just go back to my own life DR EVA ORSMOND ON FILMING OF DOCUMENTARY
DOCTOR Eva Orsmond has told how she was moved to tears after witnessing shocking poverty while filming RTE show Ireland’s Health Divide.
The nutrition expert – famous for telling leaders on reality show Operation Transformation to “cop on” – was horrified at what she saw.
The programme examines how where you are born and raised affects life expectancy and its findings left outspoken Dr Eva speechless.
She found that people brought up in poverty are: ■ Likely to die seven years younger ■ Three times as likely to get cancer ■ Twice as likely to be obese ■ Twice as likely to have mental health problems, and
■ Have one GP per 2,500. The national average is one GP per 1,250.
She was also shocked to discover just 1% of children from disadvantaged backgrounds receive a thirdlevel education.
The Finland-born doctor said meeting mothers caught in the poverty trap who were struggling to feed their children almost broke her heart.
Dr Eva told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I remember once sitting in the car with tears in my eyes after a day filming and I just felt so bad.
“I found it very difficult to see their struggles and then just go back to my life – to think of the things we moan about that are really nothing.
“They didn’t warn me about it before we started filming because it was supposed to be a genuine journey of discovery for me.
“I treat private patients and I live in south Dublin so I’ve never seen that side of it. To me Ireland feels wealthy.
“I don’t want to come across as some sort of princess and I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, but while I was aware there was poverty I didn’t understand the scale or reality of it.
“I don’t think I’m the only person in Ireland who doesn’t know these things, I think a lot of people will be shocked to see this.
“I didn’t think I was easily shocked but what I saw was so far from what I was used to. It’s been quite a learning curve for me.”
Dr Eva met families from districts including Moyross in Limerick.
She also talked to experts such as sociologist Professor Richard Layte of Trinity College, Dublin.
She said: “I visited families with urgent everyday pressures. It’s almost a survival struggle for them. Mothers trying to cope with chronic illness or domestic violence or substandard housing have enough going on without thinking about healthy eating. “I interviewed a five-year-old girl at a breakfast club in Limerick who had 13 of her teeth pulled out because she was eating too many sweets. “I suspected that with some of the children, judging by their facial features, their mothers had abused alcohol during pregnancy. “I went shopping with one mother of seven and we had to take the bus because the supermarket was two miles away.
“I helped her with the bags because she didn’t have a car.
“For most of these people their environment is grey and depressing, there are no trees, no parks, no playgrounds. If they do have a shop nearby it’s just a corner shop offering limited choices such as fizzy drinks, cakes and frozen food. There are a huge concentration of takeaways.
“It’s very difficult for them to make good nutritional choices when the odds are stacked against them.”
She was shocked at the socio-economic divide she witnessed with “big mansions” just a two-minute drive away from some of the poorest areas. She said: “In the past I have been very quick to judge and to say, ‘Cop on and sort yourself out’. But I was brought up in a society where there is a chance to improve yourself.
“Some people face a daily struggle to stay alive and keep their kids alive. I saw all these gorgeous kids and they’re living on a diet of bread, chips and sausages.
“The parents don’t believe anybody from their family can make anything of themselves. It’s very difficult to break that vicious cycle.”
One GP in Ballymun, Dublin, told Dr Eva it can take up to two years after a referral for patients suffering persistent headaches to see an expert.
She said: “It’s hard for me to understand why you have to wait two years to see a neurosurgeon when you could have a brain tumour. I can’t imagine
how people cope if they’re sick or their child is sick and they can’t get help. In a country like Ireland it’s impossible to comprehend.
“It’s not like we’re not paying taxes, it’s not a third world country.
“You would think certain things would be prioritised.
“It starts before birth. Babies born to poorer mothers have a lower birth weight meaning they hit developmental milestones later. There’s an accumulation of risk factors. As a mother it’s very sad to see these children who have their whole lives ahead of them.
“They can’t do anything about the disadvantage they live in and that breaks my heart.”
Dr Eva believes investment in education is key to breaking the poverty cycle. She added more projects such as Incredible Years in Drogheda, which uses puppets to teach mindfulness to four year olds, are needed to give poor kids a better start in life.
She said: “I always thought people had the ability to take personal responsibility for their own health, but now I’ve changed my views.
“The documentary took three months to make. It’s been a long process but it’s been absolutely worthwhile. People need to be made aware of this.”
Ireland’s Health Divide is on RTE One tomorrow at 9.35pm.
They can’t do a thing about disadvantage that they live in. It breaks my heart
DR EVA ORSMOND ON LIFE PROSPECTS OF THE YOUNG