Irish researchers share insights on obesity and NCDs

The Association for the Study of Obesity on the Island of Ireland is holding its inaugural meeting this week – to be discussed are a range of obesity-related topics including obesity management, obesity and pregnancy and socio-economic factors, as reported by the Irish Times.

In terms of socio-economic imbalance research from the Economic and Social Research Institute found that ‘working class’ girls were almost 40% more likely to be overweight than their peers in ‘professional’ households.

On physical activity, leading physiotherapist Dr. Colin Dunlevy berated “bootcamp” reality shows for making losing weight through exercise look too hard; with beginning a regime a key barrier for overweight individuals to lose weight.

Professor Martin Caraher (City University London) argued that the solutions to obesity are not to be found in health policy alone – joined up policy linking health, finance, agriculture and planning all play a role. Inequality is a key driver of obesity and other nutrition-related chronic diseases.

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