The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and the Minister for Public Health, Well Being and National Drugs Strategy, Frank Feighan, have launched a new Healthy Weight campaign, developed under the Healthy Ireland Framework.
Research has shown that weight-gain is influenced by multiple factors such as environment, access to healthy and affordable food, physical activity, genetic make-up, and lifestyle. This campaign will support people to prevent weight gain in their 20s and 30s by focusing on four pillars – sleep, stress, physical activity and nutrition.
Minister Donnelly said:
“All of us in Government have a role in addressing overweight and obesity, the underlying causes of which are impacted by national policy and action across a wide range of areas. Many of the influencing factors lie outside our own individual control, such as accessibility and affordability of healthy food, socio-economic stressors and the built environment.
“This campaign forms part of a series of initiatives by Healthy Ireland to address overweight and obesity in the adult population, with this particular element raising awareness of the heightened risk of developing overweight and obesity as people move through young adulthood.”
The Healthy Weight campaign will share practical, expert information about behaviours that can affect weight, in order to support adults to be and feel healthier. These behaviours include good nutrition and eating well, managing stress, sleeping well and engaging in regular physical activity.
The campaign is aimed at 25 to 34-year-olds, and will be hosted on social media including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
It was developed by Healthy Ireland in partnership with Safefood and the HSE’s Health Promotion team.
For more information visit www.gov.ie/HealthyWeight.