Children in low-income families and communities in the State are the most exposed to unhealthy food environments and the most at risk of long-term health consequences, a new report has found.
On Wednesday, UN children’s agency Unicef published a report on nutrition which found that obesity exceeds rates of being underweight among school-age children and adolescents globally for the first time.
In the Republic, the report cites figures from the Childhood Obesity Surveillance initiative which shows that one in five primary schoolchildren are overweight or obese. That figure rises to more than one in four in Deis schools, where children are more likely to experience socio-economic disadvantage.
Children are considered overweight when they are significantly heavier than is healthy for their age, sex and height.
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Obesity is the condition of being severely overweight; it leads to a higher risk of developing insulin resistance and high blood pressure, as well as life-threatening illnesses including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers later in life.
Aibhlín O’Leary, head of advocacy at Unicef Ireland, said the report reflects “a growing global inequality – and Ireland is not immune”.
“This isn’t a matter of personal responsibility – it’s a systemic failure. We need stronger policies to support families and ensure that every child, regardless of family income, has access to real, nutritious food.”
Catherine Russell, executive director of Unicef, said obesity is a growing concern and can impact the health and development of children.
“Ultra-processed food is increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition plays a critical role in children’s growth, cognitive development and mental health,” she said.
The concerns around the food environment is something Irish experts have also spoken out about. Safefood, which promotes food safety and healthy eating across the island of Ireland, last year launched a five-year public health campaign.
The campaign highlights how snack foods are “encroaching” on new settings, with 70 per cent of people surveyed by Safefood finding unhealthy foods for sale in non-food locations such as hardware stores and bookshops. Safefood said research showed that more than half (56 per cent) of the food on offer in convenience stores was unhealthy.
