Ireland falls behind international best practice for implementing some of the policies needed to tackle obesity ​and other non-communicable diseases, a ground-breaking new report from University College Cork has found.

Its findings have led to calls for a reform of Ireland’s ‘food environment’ - the wide range of interconnected factors such as food production, processing, marketing, and distribution, that characterise our food system and largely determine our dietary intakes.

The first Irish Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) has highlighted how Ireland compared poorly with other countries when it comes to rolling out initiatives such as so-called ‘no fry zones’, school ​food policies, and measures aimed at reducing the marketing ​of unhealthy food to children in the media and online.

Read the full press release (Dr Janas Harrington, School of Public Health, University College Cork) here

Find the Food-EPI report for Ireland and further related document at the PEN website: Reports