85,000 obese children in Ireland ‘will die earlier’
MORE than 85,000 obese children on this island will die prematurely later in life as a result of being overweight during their childhood, new research shows.
In the Republic, 55,000 people will die prematurely due to childhood obesity, almost 29,000 of whom will be female.
In the North 30,600 premature deaths will be the result of childhood obesity, according to the research.
Safefood Ireland estimates the lifetime cost of childhood obesity on the island of Ireland is €7.2billion.
The report published yesterday found that 21% of the total costs in the Republic will be in direct healthcare costs such as inpatient, GP and drug costs. However over two thirds are defined as ‘ indirect costs’ such as those arising due to absenteeism and premature mortality.
The lifetime cost per person of childhood obesity in the Republic of Ireland is €16,000 according to Safefood Ireland. One in four children is currently obese in Ireland.
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, direc- tor, human health and nutrition, Safefood, said: ‘This research highlights the health, social and economic costs associated with the very high levels of overweight and obesity in our children.
‘One in four children on the island of Ireland are overweight or obese and with a 70% risk of this tracking into adulthood, this can result in lifelong and intergeneration al ill-health.
‘Much can and must be done to lessen this otherwise inevitable and unacceptable burden on society and implementing the obesity strategies North and South is the way forward.’
Research partner Professor Kevin Balanda, Institute of Public Health in Ireland, said: ‘ This research contributes to a larger EU-funded project that is led by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland. As well as financial costs, the research emphasises the human impact of childhood obesity and overweight.
‘In particular, it estimated that over 85,000 children on the island will die prematurely because of childhood obesity and overweight.
‘The estimates of lifetime costs are l i kely to be conservative because they do not include the psycho-social impacts on schooling, social life and work prospects, and monetary value of productivity in older people.
‘We couldn’t include these issues because relevant data is not avail- able and more comprehensive estimates could be obtained if these gaps were filled.’
Safefood Ireland chief executive Ray Dolan said the research shows ‘a compelling case for obesity prevention especially given the economic burden these costs could place on future generations.’
A 1% reduction in the mean childhood body mass index on the island of Ireland would result in a saving of €365million, according to the authors of the research. A 5% reduction would lead to a saving of €1.5billion.
Research lead professor Ivan Perry said the introduction of a ‘sugar tax’ which is due to be enacted next year would work to reverse the trend in growing childhood obesity numbers: ‘The findings on the scale of these costs and the future burden on society should engender a sense of urgency on the need for broadranging and effective public policy to tackle the epidemic of overweight and obesity in childhood.
‘Policy initiatives such as the tax on sugar- sweetened drinks and measures designed to promote walking and cycling among children have the potential to yield substantial savings with a relatively short time,’ Mr Perry said.
The study was led by University College Cork and is the first of its kind to estimate the lifetime costs of childhood obesity in Ireland.
‘One in four children are obese’
THE prospects for the Irish economy in a post-Brexit era are deeply uncertain, and this uncertainty is even greater following yesterday’s developments in Europe.
We suffered a double blow after losing separate bids to become home to two major regulatory bodies following Britain’s imminent departure from the EU.
It is particularly galling to miss out on bringing the European Banking Authority here, given that we lost in a tie-break. The pill is made even more bitter to swallow by the fact we had dropped out of the contest to host the European Medicines Agency in order to put maximum effort into the banking bid. But there are important lessons to be taken from the experience.
At the start of the process, there was a considerable amount of bullish talk from the Government regarding our prospects. There was a school of thought that bringing the organisations here would send out a message that the our European cousins acknowledge how Brexit will affect this country in particular. In short, a show of solidarity from the EU to Ireland.
But the degree to which our political leaders bought into that narrative shows a lack of understanding about how international politics works. When it was first reported last month that Ireland faced losing out on the EMA bid, our lack of natural geographical allies was highlighted as one of the main factors working against us.
The Government had simply failed to recognise that countries are always most likely to vote for their nearest neighbours. Due to our location on the farthest fringes of the continent, we were at a disadvantage from the very beginning.
Yesterday’s dismal outcome must serve as wake-up call. The Government needs to realise it would be foolish to enter into a trade war with Britain over the border and expect the EU to stand should-to-shoulder with us. That is not how things work.
Member states will act in their own interests. It would be naïve to think the EU will make any concessions to Ireland regarding the impact of Britain’s departure.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his ministers need to take stock. And the first thing they must do is start rethinking their approach to the Brexit negotiations before too many bridges are burnt.