What you don’t measure, you can’t improve, said Health Minister Leo Varadkar after a health-of-the-nation study revealed people spend around five hours a day sitting around.
But the Irish lifestyle is improving slowly, according to the Healthy Ireland report: Fewer than one in five smoke, obesity has levelled off, and more people are exercising regularly.
There are now more ex-smokers in Ireland than smokers. “I think that is evidence public health policies over time do make a big difference,” Mr Varadkar said.
However, it emerged some people are still consuming too much alcohol, not taking enough exercise, and 60% are overweight.
Only 32% of the population meet the national physical activity recommendations even though people know they should be more physically active.
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And just 15% of those drinking at harmful levels realise that drinking damages their health.
Mr Varadkar said the rate of binge drinking in Ireland was the second highest in the European region. The Healthy Ireland study showed drinking to excess was commonplace across all sections of society and four in ten drinkers binge drink at least once a month.
He said he expects to publish the Public Health Alcohol Bill in “a matter of weeks”, and that it was the first time the State would seek to tackle alcohol misuse on public health grounds.
Source: Evelyn Ring, Irish Examiner, 08/10/15
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