The Issue

Lifestyle is the most important health issue in the 21^st century. Our children are growing up in a media-saturated world where the wrong choices are usually heavily promoted. Young people drift into poor lifestyle habits almost by accident, without even thinking about the issues. We want people to think about the choices they make, and we want to challenge our growing culture of passivity. We aim to empower children and adults to make informed choices about their lives. 

Irish society has changed radically in the last 10 years.  As our disposable income has risen, our lifestyle habits have worsened.  The environment in which our children live has become increasingly obesogenic. Energy dense, nutrient poor junk food is everywhere...cheap and easy to access. We are fast reaching the point where children rarely walk anywhere. More and more of our children come to school with no breakfast, and lunch typically consists of poor quality snack foods.  

Our nation is the greatest consumer of soft drinks in the European Union, with 63% of our children consuming at least one can per day. Food companies use viral marketing techniques to drive consumption of energy dense food in our children.  

As parents, we have been convinced that we do not have time to make meals, depriving ourselves of simple acts of creation in favour of passive consumption. We have been persuaded that 10 minutes in a fast food restaurant is somehow a “fun” experience, while a multi-million euro leisure industry benefits when our families lounge comatose in front of the TV.  

We have been convinced that we do not have the time or energy to do anything other than sit and passively consume entertainment in the same way that we consume processed food. Radical measures will be needed to break this tyranny of passivity.  

Physical and mental passivity is literally killing us. We shouldn't try to turn back the clock, but we need to react with energy and imagination. Children and parents need to be empowered, and the culture of passivity needs to be challenged.  Parents and children need to understand that they are a target market, and the marketeers tricks need to be exposed.  Parents need to reclaim the high ground, to take the power back so that the lives of our children are not controlled by ad-campaigns. We need nothing short of a lifestyle revolution if we are to save the next generation. 

Irish children and teenagers consume large amounts of junk food, which seriously affects long term health. Junk food companies actively target teenagers and children.  Our programme exposes the marketing tricks that are used, and enables parents and children to make up their own minds.

National School children commonly watch 3 hours of TV per day. Over the course of a year, these children spend more time inactive in front of the box than they do in school.