Rise in obesity will follow rise in living costs, says food expert
As cost-of-living crisis beds in, experts warn of collateral effects while others rely on their resourcefulness to ensure winter won’t be all dark
THE cost-of-living crisis will push up obesity levels in Ireland as families are forced to turn to less healthy but cheaper food options, according to a leading dietitian.
Six out of 10 adults are already considered overweight or obese and just under 37% of the population has a normal weight.
One in four children is overweight but the number of children overweight or obese in disadvantaged areas is 7% higher than in other areas.
Dietitian Orla Walsh predicts these figures will rise as the cost of living increases.
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Calories are cheap and nutrients are expensive. How much money we have affects the food we buy.
‘The rise in prices of food, heating and the housing crisis is putting a big squeeze on people and I think people will be thinking more about surviving than nutrition.’
‘You cannot ignore the psychological aspect’
Ms Walsh warned that many families will prioritise heating their homes over eating healthily this winter.
‘You can understand why people are not prioritising nutritious meals and you cannot ignore the psychological aspect of eating habits that comes with the cost-ofliving crisis,’ she said.
The rise in prices will cause high stress in many households and, according to Ms Walsh, families will be eating for reasons other than nutrition. She said they’ll eat for comfort, to reward themselves for getting through a tough day, or to get the energy to carry on.
‘If the cost of living is high, people have to work harder which often means working longer and therefore people will choose options that are quick, easy or convenient and not necessarily very healthy.’
Extreme scenarios, such as the cost-of-living crisis or the pandemic, put people’s lives under pressure and affect eating behaviour in households, she said.
‘We saw BMIs [body mass index] change during the pandemic with some people decreasing theirs but others increasing their weight. Under different circumstances, our eating patterns change.’
The dietitian warned the longterm effect of a rise in obesity would be costly for the Government as the HSE already spends €1.3bn a year on the problem.
‘It’s time we stopped kicking the can down the road and sorted it out,’ she said.
With the cost of living having the worst effect on people who were already struggling, Ms Walsh is concerned about how this will affect the eating behaviour of families.
But she insisted responsibility for the rise in obesity should not be put on struggling families.
‘It wouldn’t be right to discuss obesity in Ireland and the cost-ofliving crisis by blaming them. That would be inaccurate and the research does not back it.’
Instead, she places an onus on groups such as the Irish Nutrition and Dietetics Institute to educate people on how to shop healthily on a budget.
‘There need to be more efforts made to improve the whole scenario, especially going into the winter months,’ she said.
Ms Walsh, who owns Orla Walsh Nutrition, shared some of her tips on how people can preserve their health and their wealth.
Junk food such as crisps and confectionery should be cut back so there is more to spend on breakfast, lunch and dinner. To reduce waste, make shopping lists. Buy food that
‘It wouldn’t be right to blame them’
has a longer shelf life and a mixture of fresh and frozen vegetables.
Families could also adjust portions. A factor of the obesity crisis is ‘portion distortion’ with many parents feeding children adult portions. She advised slowly adjusting portion sizes.
Her warnings come as new research this summer from the HSE and Healthy Ireland revealed that families are spending more than ever on treats.
The research revealed that families are spending almost twice as much on treats as on fruit and vegetables.
Supermarket shopping data found that families with children spent an average €746 on groceries in April this year and of this, €159 (21%) was spent on treats such as biscuits, crisps and chocolate. In comparison, just €49 (6.6%) was spent on fruit and €37 (5%) on vegetables.
In a poll published this summer in the British Medical Journal more than half of people (55%) felt the rising cost of living has had a negative effect on their health. Of those who reported their health getting worse, 78% said it was because of the rising cost of food.