Too many children going to bed hungry in Ireland warns survey

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has launched a national survey of school children’s health behaviour, the first of its kind for four years.

The Health Behaviours in School Children (HBSC) survey 2014 shows that overall health levels are good. There are encouraging findings on consumption of fruit and vegetables, teeth cleaning, and a drop in smoking levels and consumption of sweets and soft drinks.

However, many children said they find it easy to get cigarettes, too many children are going to bed hungry, and there are concerns about levels of cyber bullying.

A total of 13,611 pupils were surveyed with questions on topics like general health, food and dietary behaviour, exercise and physical activity, self-care, smoking, use of alcohol and other substances, bullying including cyber bullying, and sexual health behaviours.

Minister Varadkar said: “Lifestyle patterns are set an early age. Chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiac disease and others can develop out of lifestyle choices. The survey gives us an insight into the attitudes and behaviours of children on very important issues. There are lots of positive findings, with a rise in fruit and veg consumption, and a drop in sweet consumption. The reported levels of general health are good. But there are some worrying findings on drinking, smoking, and hunger. This information will be very useful in adapting the Government approach to the realities of young people today.

“We have made real progress on smoking but this Survey shows us we have much more to do in eliminating access to cigarettes. The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill which we are also launching today will be an important step in restricting advertising to young people and limiting their access to cheap alcohol. Future measures including the Obesity Policy and Action Plan and the first National Physical Activity Plan will also help us to keep the focus on weight and overall health.”