Early this morning I heard what I quickly disregarded as the latest crazy proposal in what already seems like a nanny state – apparently we need to regulate the ice-cream van, an institution of Irish childhood! As I say I disregarded it very quickly. I will be honest while I fully agree in health related supportive measures from government and trade alike I do also believe in freedom of choice. I have real issues with the proposal of a sugar tax and at first glance this new rant from Senator Catherine Noone seemed akin to that.
However… I then heard the Senator speak on the Ray D’arcy show on Today FM and to say she got a right grilling would be an understatement. Ray suggested that surely she had bigger fish to fry, pun intended no doubt. I started to listen to what Senator Noone had to say and this issue came about as a result of a complaint she received from a lady who is fighting with her children up to 4 times a day – each time the ice-cream van arrives into her estate and they want a cone. Now, that suddenly got my attention – 4 times a day?!
So I sat up and paid more attention and in fairness to the Senator she spoke very well. She has called for regulation of ice-cream vans to help and support parents who face “pester power” each time the van enters an estate with their jingles blaring. She believes it is an aggressive form of marketing and I would have to say I am now inclined to agree with her. Tesco have recently succumbed to pressure and pledged to sweet-free tills after 65% of surveyed customers supported this move (see article here) so why is that such a positive move yet not introducing regulation for ice-cream vans? (As an aside in the UK they do have regulation and on reading this it actually seems quite reasonable – check it out)
Working in the health & leisure industry the obesity epidemic is a problem we deal with on an ongoing basis and in reality it is probably a large factor behind the boom this industry has experienced. I am continuously calling for preventative measures to be discussed and implemented rather that our reactionary approach. Senator Noone is really only calling for the same and while I don’t agree with every proposal she puts forward I now realise that the media bias makes it very easy for us to dismiss her before she has even been heard.
Children MUST become more physically active, Irish children are the 5th most obese in Europe with 100,000 obese children in Ireland and 300,000 overweight. Those are some very worrying figures! The money we will spend on obesity related illnesses, such as Diabetes Type 2, could be spent now in a much better manner. I feel children should all be taught physical literacy skills in school from day 1 which has already been proven to increase long term participation in activity. I believe in educating people to make better choices not taxing them to remove those choices in the first place. I believe in managing and regulating industry to support health and wellness. I also believe moderation is a great thing!
So, I guess the reason I am blogging about this is there are so many of us fighting a similar battle yet media bias and ignorance can prevent us from working together. I am keen to know your thoughts – a well titled and more balanced article, written by Paul Hosford, published on theJournal.ie this morning has already had over 80 comments in the 4 hours since this was posted so if nothing else surely this media attention is giving us the opportunity to consider and discuss the issue at hand.