‘Tackle obesity by teaching children to cook in school’

■ Experts call for mandatory home economics classes as part of the Junior Cert cycle

SCHOOLS need to teach children how to cook and eat healthily if Ireland is to tackle obesity among young people, it has been claimed.

Experts have called for home economics to be made compulsory for Junior Certificate students and said encouraging healthy eating from a young age is vital. Dr Karen Matvien- ko-Sikar, of Choosing Healthy Eating for Children’s Health, said parents had a key role in making sure children had healthy feeding habits.

The first two years of life is a critical window and influences feeding behaviours and weight outcomes, she added.

Advertising also plays a role with another expert warning that Irish children see 1,000 unhealthy TV adverts per year.

An Oireachtas Committee was told yesterday that having fast food restaurants near schools was also an problem.

Members were told childhood obesity increases by 25pc when a school is within 400 metres of a fast food restaurant and it is time for children to “wake up and start cooking”.

The Association of Teachers of Home Economics (ATHE) and St Angela’s College Sligo, an affiliate of NUI Galway, yesterday told the Oireachtas Committee on Children that education is a key tool to address obesity in young people.

Amanda McCloat, head of home economics at St Angela’s College, called for the subject to be made a mandatory component of the Junior Cycle in secondary schools.

She said it would allow young people to engage with practical food literacy skills and empower them to make the best dietary choices.

“Students will develop a confidence in choosing, preparing and cooking food. Home economics is a key ingredient in a recipe for a healthy and happy life. It’s time to wake up and get cooking,” said Ms McCloat.

ATHE president Maria Hick-

ey said teaching children how to cook prevented a culture where people were dependent on processed and takeaway foods.

“Home economics is the only school subject on the Irish curriculum that teaches young people food literacy and culinary skills.

“It is critical that all citizens of Ireland have the food and culinary skills and knowledge to provide nutritionally balanced meals for themselves and their families,” she said.

Dr Matvienko-Sikar said what and when parents feed children in the first two years of life influences future feeding behaviours, preferences and weight outcomes.

She called for more support to be made available to educate parents about feeding patterns.

“Provision of support to parents by healthcare professionals for both positive and negative experiences, which can change over time, is important to promote healthy infant feeding and prevent childhood obesity,” she said.

Dr Mimi Tatlow-Golden, the director of the centre for children’s health and well-being at the Open University in the UK, said media influences were also key.

She called for new marketing regulations. “Here in Ireland, even very young children see upwards of 1,000 unhealthy TV ads a year, sometimes even more than six adverts every hour due to loopholes in broadcast advertising regulations.”

Philip Moyles, chairman of the No Fry Zone for Kids committee in Greystones, Co Wicklow, said local authorities must act to ensure fast food restaurants are not opened near schools to target pupils. The group previously lobbied for a ‘No Fry Zone’ around schools in the area after McDonald’s announced plans to open a drive-through and restaurant near three local schools.

Wicklow County Council has since been commended for creating a 400 metre exclusion zone around schools for such restaurants.