THE INTERVENTION of Taoiseach Brian Cowen is needed to prevent Ireland's obesity epidemic from "crippling" the health service and the economy, a leading consultant and academic has said.
Dr Donal O'Shea, associate professor of medicine at UCD and consultant endocrinologist in St Vincent's hospital Dublin, said the money being poured into cancer and diabetes care would be better spent on obesity prevention and treatment.
"We've known the link between diabetes and obesity for years, but in the last five years an association with cancer and dementia has become clear."
Mid-life obesity is associated with an 80 per cent increased risk of dementia in later life, he said. Women were at greater risk of dementia than men, but the cancer risk was stronger in men. Between 400 and 500 cases of cancer are due to obesity each year with oesophageal, colon and kidney cancers, and gynaecological cancers in women all having links to obesity.
About 24 per cent of the population are obese, but Dr O'Shea said this figure could soon double if left unchecked. "If we keep going along the lines of the United States, close to 50 per cent of our population will be obese by 2030."
Obese patients who undergo surgery to treat their condition can expect a 90 per cent reduction in the risk of death by diabetes, a 60 per cent reduction in death from cancer and a 50 per reduction in the risk of death from heart disease.
However, there was a need for greater access to treatments such as surgery, physiotherapy, psychotherapy and diet management, Dr O'Shea said.
"There is only one funded obesity treatment unit in the country, although there is outline commitment to four units," he said.
"Continuing to pour money into cancer and dementia care would be a disaster for this country, but it is a preventable disaster. It needs somebody senior to make this the number one issue for the country. I'm talking about someone from the Taoiseach up."
Dr O'Shea spoke last night at the Ireland in 2030 lecture, Obesity: Treating the Epidemic, Preventing the Pandemic, organised by the RDS and The Irish Times in association with the Institute of Biology of Ireland.
Prof Niall Moyna, head of the DCU school of health and performance science, who also spoke, said prevention was the only real solution to the obesity problem.
"The only thing that works for obesity is prevention in the first place. The likelihood is that if you become obese you'll remain obese for the rest of your life."
Obesity caused alterations in the brain which meant that even if an obese person lost weight they would always be more likely to gain weight than a person who consumed the same amount of calories but had never been obese.
While diet was important in initial weight loss, exercise was vital in maintaining normal weight, he said. Children should take 60 minutes of exercise a day while adults should take 30 minutes.
