Diet

The Chief Executive of the Irish Heart Foundation, Michael O’Shea, supported by the National Heart Alliance[1], calls for immediate action at Government level to protect children and young people from the marketing of unhealthy foods as one important step in the fight against increasing levels of obesity. Mr O’Shea said: “With one in five Irish adolescents and children now overweight or obese, we are already seeing increasing levels of diabetes and a real possibility of increasing levels of heart disease at a younger age resulting in a wide range of social, economic and healthcare problems. Faced with the scale of this public health problem – doing nothing is not an option.”

Many public health organisations across the world are calling for action on marketing of unhealthy foods to children. An EU-wide consultation with stakeholders in 20 countries, including Ireland, established that ‘controls on food and drink advertising to children’ was in the top 10 policy options to combat obesity and should be implemented as a priority. Our neighbours in the UK have already introduced restrictions on advertising of certain foods on television up to 7pm.

Given that marketing of unhealthy foods has been shown to influence young people’s food choices, both the Irish Heart Foundation and National Heart Alliance (NHA) have already called for a national policy on the marketing of unhealthy foods to children including a ban on TV advertising which is the most significant advertising medium used to advertise foods high in fat, sugar and salt.

Enjoying a variety of foods from the different food groups is the key to healthy eating. Try to base your eating pattern on these healthy eating guidelines:

• Use margarine spreads instead of butter or dairy blends.




• Use a variety of oils for cooking - some suitable choices include canola, sunflower, soybean, olive and peanut oils.




• Use salad dressings and mayonnaise made from oils such as canola, sunflower, soybean and olive oils.




• Choose low or reduced-fat milk and yoghurt or “added calcium” soy beverages. Try to limit cheese and ice cream to twice a week.




• Have fish (any type of fresh or canned) at least twice a week.




• Select lean meat (meat trimmed of fat and chicken without skin). Try to limit fatty meats including sausages and delicatessen meats such as salami.




• Snack on plain, unsalted nuts and fresh fruit.




• Incorporate dried peas (e.g. split peas), dried beans (e.g. haricot beans, kidney beans), canned beans (e.g. baked beans, three bean mix) or lentils into two meals a week.




• Make vegetables and grain-based foods such as breakfast cereals, bread, pasta, noodles and rice the major part of each meal.




• Try to limit take-away foods to once a week. Take-away foods include pastries, pies, pizza, hamburgers and creamy pasta dishes.




• Try to limit snack foods, such as potato crisps and corn crisps, to once a week.




• Try to limit cholesterol-rich foods, such as egg yolks and offal e.g. liver, kidney and brains.

Pick the Tick:

Foods with the Tick are a healthier choice of their type. There’s a Tick alternative to most of the foods you eat everyday. In fact, there are around 1,200 foods across more than 50 supermarket categories. But broadly, all foods with the Tick fit into three groups:

• Fresh foods like eggs, lean meat and poultry, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.




• Everyday foods or staples such as bread, margarine, breakfast cereals and yoghurt.




• Occasional foods likes pies, oven fries and most recently on some meals when we eat away from home