THE IRISH Heart Foundation (IHF) has welcomed a new European report on the role of lifestyle in preventing heart disease, saying it mirrors policy directions currently being advocated in the Republic.
The report, entitled Diet, Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Europe, to be published tomorrow by the European Heart Network (EHN), is the result of two years of collaborative research involving a large number of European universities and experts.
It is based on a comprehensive review of the latest evidence on the relationships between cardiovascular health and eating and exercise habits. It examines current European eating and physical activity patterns and proposes a series of policy actions.
Ms Janis Morrissey, dietitian with the IHF, said it was lobbying for changes to food marketing and food labelling regulations here, in line with the goals contained in the European report.
"We are looking forward to the second phase of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland consultation on food marketing to children," she told The Irish Times. "The IHF would like to see a ban on the TV advertising of food high in salt, fat and sugar until after 9pm," said Ms Morrissey.
At present, the UK is to the fore in Europe, with a ban on television advertising of foods such as sugar-sweetened cereals, fizzy drinks and biscuits before 7pm.
Both the IHF and the EHN are lobbying for a change to food labelling regulations. They want nutritional information on products to appear in a standard minimum font size, so that the nutritional details are more easily read and understood. Both groups also want to see the introduction of “traffic light” labelling, so that consumers can readily see to which nutritional category each foodstuff belongs.
Ms Morrissey said the IHF was encouraged by recent support from Minister for Health James Reilly for the introduction of both food taxes and subsidies, in line with recent initiatives in France and Denmark.
As well as taxing sugary drinks, it would like to see fruit and vegetables subsidised for certain groups of consumers.
The Common Agricultural Policy and workplace health were other areas where positive change could be made, she said.