Dublin/Ireland Obesity stats?

Hanley

I'm being lazy here, but where can I find the most up to date stats on how out of shape we're getting both as a nation, and on a more local level?

Ideally I'd be able to dig down to localised areas of Dublin.

audman

Hanley wrote: »

I'm being lazy here, but where can I find the most up to date stats on how out of shape we're getting both as a nation, and on a more local level?

Ideally I'd be able to dig down to localised areas of Dublin.

Online.

laoch na mona

cso maybe? I really don't konow

Hanley

Oireachtas report from 2011;

"Obesity is recognised internationally and in
Ireland as a major health concern. In Ireland,
61% of adults and 22% of 5-12 year olds are
overweight or obese. "

Was hoping for more localised info so if anyone knows how to work the CSO site for that sorta stuff it'd be deadly.

brownej

Hanley wrote: »

Oireachtas report from 2011;

"Obesity is recognised internationally and in
Ireland as a major health concern. In Ireland,
61% of adults and 22% of 5-12 year olds are
overweight or obese. "

Was hoping for more localised info so if anyone knows how to work the CSO site for that sorta stuff it'd be deadly.

That Oireachtas report has some regional breakdown data in it but the referenced website is down for renovation :rolleyes:
You might be able to find it elsewhere. I'm sure if you write to them they could send you a copy.

That Slan2007 study seems to be heavily referenced everywhere for Irish Obesity statistics.
Doesn't seem that there are very many studies done in this area.

Good luck with your research.

atilladehun

googled oireachtas report on obesity and got

http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/housesoftheoireachtas/libraryresearch/spotlights/spotObesity071111_150658.pdf

Dublin at a quick glance has the lowest percentage with the highest in the north and center counties.

Danny_Lennon

Dude I'd say have a look at the data from NANS:

http://www.iuna.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/National-Adult-Nutrition-Survey-Summary-Report-March-2011.pdf

Should have some of the specific papers if you want to track any down. Let me know

Rower2

......how localised??? Are you trying to look at income vs obesity or what's going on?

Obesity is shocking here - there's the attitude of once you hit 30 you let yourself go.

Hanley

Thanks guys. Some very helpful stuff there.

Rower2 wrote: »

......how localised??? Are you trying to look at income vs obesity or what's going on?

Obesity is shocking here - there's the attitude of once you hit 30 you let yourself go.

I'd love to get figures for my local community as part of a project I'm working on. Not income related but there seems to be data around which suggests lower incomes lead to high obesity figures right?

Inspector Coptoor

Yeah, lower incomes, higher reliance on convenience foods which can lead to high levels of obesity aswell as some forms of malnutrition

discus

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

Yeah, loser incomes, higher reliance on convenience foods

...because people would rather save money buying less-than-healthy food so they have a larger disposable income. It's not education, its priorities and lord knows digital tv is more important than decent food on your childrens plate. The education excuse is a cop out.

Clearlier

discus wrote: »

...because people would rather save money buying less-than-healthy food so they have a larger disposable income. It's not education, its priorities and lord knows digital tv is more important than decent food on your childrens plate. The education excuse is a cop out.

Interesting anecdotal account from the owner of a small number of retail stores in London who recounted how when they started paying at least the 'Living wage' to all of their employees saw a shift in what they ate for lunch. They specifically mentioned Pot noodles being replaced with salads.

There are a lot of factors that feed into obesity. Education is one of them both in the lack of it that some people have and the mis-education perpetrated by various food companies aided and abetted by our governments little thinking adoption of American ideas about healthy eating.

If it is just a case of priorities being changed then you have to explain what has changed in peoples prioritisation during the past 30 - 40 years.

laoch na mona

discus wrote: »

...because people would rather save money buying less-than-healthy food so they have a larger disposable income. It's not education, its priorities and lord knows digital tv is more important than decent food on your childrens plate. The education excuse is a cop out.

its that people on low income or parents that both have to work buy what is quickest to cook. I was lucky that my dad was unemployed so he cooked for us but as a child money was scarce and the bills need paying. This led to us having less money for shopping. i agree it is priorities but people have this crazy idea that paying bills and your mortgage was more important.

if both my parents were working or it was a one parent household convenience food would have been an unfortunate necessity .

In a perfect society income wouldn't effect how healthy we are but hey societies fúcked

discus

I'm sorry, but that's no excuse. There's plenty of families with both parents working, who can still cook decent food without resorting to serving their children convenience crap. Unless both parents are working 12 hours shifts, 5 days a week it shouldn't be an issue.

ronanc15

A huge factor is that the cheapest options are the processed foods. I've lost count of how many times I've been doing some food shopping for the week ahead, buying proper grub i.e. healthy meats, veg etc and thinking to myself - "no wonder all people eat is sh1t food when they compare it to the price of this lot". There's a lot to be said in favour of fat taxes on heavily processed foods.

Blacktie.

ronanc15 wrote: »

A huge factor is that the cheapest options are the processed foods. I've lost count of how many times I've been doing some food shopping for the week ahead, buying proper grub i.e. healthy meats, veg etc and thinking to myself - "no wonder all people eat is sh1t food when they compare it to the price of this lot". There's a lot to be said in favour of fat taxes on heavily processed foods.

Have to disagree with the fat tax. Fat is not unhealthy. It would lead to disaster if brought in. Just look what the low fat foods when brought in done to obesity rates. Fat is not the enemy here.

jimmyRotator

Blacktie. wrote: »

Have to disagree with the fat tax. Fat is not unhealthy. It would lead to disaster if brought in. Just look what the low fat foods when brought in done to obesity rates. Fat is not the enemy here.

Yes indeed, fat is not the enemy here, fat people are the enemy, we should have a fat people tax.

Edit: Admittedly that sounds horrendous, and I should be ashamed of myself etc but if smokers pay a significant tax every time they purchase cigarettes towards the massive financial burden on the state, should not obese people contribute financially for the collective burden that they put on the state?

ronanc15

Blacktie. wrote: »

Have to disagree with the fat tax. Fat is not unhealthy. It would lead to disaster if brought in. Just look what the low fat foods when brought in done to obesity rates. Fat is not the enemy here.

Don't let the name throw you, I'm not talking about fat specifically. I'm talking about ****ty processed foods, like those €1 microwave curries and pizzas etc

rubadub

Blacktie. wrote: »

Have to disagree with the fat tax. Fat is not unhealthy.

I think that posters fat tax was just a term that could have been in quotes, or meant as "tax on food that makes you fat" as he did mention heavily processed foods. It could be called a "junk food tax", but it is quite difficult to set criteria out for this as somebody will always find a way around it.

Bars of chocolate in mulitpacks are often cheaper than in the 80's, not even taking inflation into account. Many mulitpacks have got unusually cheap over the years.
poster from 1981 below

poster below from 1985

I saw 4 HB cornettos for €1.50 the other day, which is 37.5cent each which would be 29p in punts each. 10 donuts for for €1.50 is pretty much standard in tesco now. This big gulf in prices really does tempt people to buy multipacks, and scoff the lot.

I got 50p pocketmoney as a kid, I expect €5 is more standard now. I am surprised the kids aren't even fatter than they currently are now.

Danny_Lennon

jimmyRotator wrote: »

Yes indeed, fat is not the enemy here, fat people are the enemy, we should have a fat people tax.

Edit: Admittedly that sounds horrendous, and I should be ashamed of myself etc but if smokers pay a significant tax every time they purchase cigarettes towards the massive financial burden on the state, should not obese people contribute financially for the collective burden that they put on the state?

Only if you believe that every obese person becomes obese because of gluttony and laziness.

discus

Danny_Lennon wrote: »

Only if you believe that every obese person becomes obese because of gluttony and laziness.

But how do we figure out who got it from gluttony and laziness, vs the people who are just big boned?...

Clearlier

discus wrote: »

But how do we figure out who got it from gluttony and laziness, vs the people who are just big boned?...

A bit simplistic either way. Does anyone really think that gluttony and laziness has suddenly escalated in the last 30 - 40 years?

jimmyRotator

Clearlier wrote: »

A bit simplistic either way. Does anyone really think that gluttony and laziness has suddenly escalated in the last 30 - 40 years?

Yes. Its easier than ever to be lazy these days and fall into a sedentary lifestyle, all kinds of goods and services can be obtained with a mouse click. All manner of unhealthy fastfood can be delivered to your door. So I would think yes.

Clearlier

jimmyRotator wrote: »

Yes. Its easier than ever to be lazy these days and fall into a sedentary lifestyle, all kinds of goods and services can be obtained with a mouse click. All manner of unhealthy fastfood can be delivered to your door. So I would think yes.

Look, it's possible - perhaps even likely that the increased automation of our worlds has made it possible for us to be lazy and to gorge on unhealthy food and had an impact on the general health of the nation but it's not the whole story. If we want to change our society then it behoves us to avoid the lazy and simplistic analyses and solutions. There's a lack of understanding in the general population as to what a healthy diet is aided and abetted by food companies and not helped by our government.

I don't think that exercise has a huge role to play in obesity (pun intended). From personal experience and observations if you exercise more you eat more. Far more important is what you eat. That has changed enormously in the past 30 - 40 years. Perhaps most importantly we eat very little fat and loads more carbs.

Solutions involve education but also I think it's reasonable to have people/companies pay the true cost of things like sugar, sugary drinks and chocolate where the true cost includes the medical treatments for obesity/diabetes and their related illnesses. This is, as a previous poster observed a difficult thing to do because companies will find a way around this and where do the sugars in fruit fall in this schema, what about smoothies, fruit jutices, fruit added to ready meals as a sweetener? Just because it's hard doesn't mean that we shouldn't do it though.

I don't think that I know anyone who is happy to be fat and I certainly don't know anyone who would choose to be fat if they felt they had the option. I do think that our focus should be towards children and parents. Watching obese kids is a horrible experience, they're just like other kids in the way that they run around but they're a couple of stone heavier. Their parents are dying inside watching them but they don't know what to do. We can do a better job of making it easy to raise children healthily. My chief concern is that the plans to promote healthy eating amongst children will and in some do already receive funding/support from vested interests.