The Government has been urged by the Green Party to lead the way in Europe in fighting obesity.
A conference in Dublin Castle, attended by Green politicians from across the EU, heard calls for the Government to adopt an action plan banning junk food advertisements aimed at children, especially on television.
The so-called "Dublin Declaration" also suggested school canteens should offer organic meals and that school vending machines offer fruit juices and water instead of sweets and soft drinks.
The declaration called on the Government to promote education on food, cooking and nutrition in all schools and to include these topics in a national education plan.
The Greens want the European Commission to redraft its directive "Television without Frontiers" to allow for a ban on junk food advertising and to allow national governments regulate food advertisements from broadcasters in other states which are specifically aimed at children. Ms Jean Lambert, vice chairwoman of the Green/EFA group in the European Parliament, outlining the need for change, said the issue of junk food went far beyond the simple issue of eating.
"There is a problem of education and wealth because most junk food is consumed by people in lower socioeconomic groupings," she said.
She said the whole area of EU subsidies for sugar should be looked at, as well as the labelling of products which gave misleading information.
Ms Nicole Marechal, regional minister for health and youth in Belgium, outlined research carried out there highlighting the serious problems caused by overeating and lack of exercise among children.
Studies there have shown that one in three children aged between one and 13 years did not eat any fruit and only four out of 10 ate vegetables.
The survey also showed a high consumption of chips, very low rates of exercise and high rates of television viewing.
She said they had discovered that two out of 10 children played no sport at all.Her department had targeted the eight to 10 year age group with cartoon advertisements urging healthier lifestyles but these were in competition with companies promoting junk food.
Ms Uma Aaltonen, a Finnish Green MEP, said a very high level of child diabetes in her country was linked to food consumption.
She said studies had shown that diabetes in a child cost the state €1 million and huge money could be saved if the whole issue of proper food consumption could be tackled.
The Greens called for "a food literacy campaign" to assist parents and guardians to ensure that their children were being fed healthy food. Irish Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna said the whole area of advertising and promoting junk food to children had to be addressed urgently.
There was a growing consensus, she said, that cereal advertising using cartoon characters and toy promotions, should be halted. It was imperative, she said, that proper labelling of food, not misleading labels, should be introduced and claims made in misleading labelling should be reviewed.