Two Cork women on a mission to start 'food revolution' encouraging healthy alternatives for kids

With two young children apiece, Hegarty and Byrne were taken aback by the amount of unexpected sweets that their children were being handed on a regular basis. “We were both raising our kids a certain way, trying to be pretty healthy. They would have had limited sweets at home,” says Hegarty.

“As our kids got a bit older…and go to all these lovely after-school activities and sports, there’s all this stuff being given out and you can’t do anything about it. I was shocked at how it just became the norm. All our friends said ‘That’s just what happens’.”

The cumulative effect of these perceived treats made Byrne, who works with the HSE, take stock — the packets of jellies given to her daughter after a gymnastic class, lollipops at restaurants, the sweets distributed at playschool on Fridays. 

“I’d be asking the other parents and the teacher ‘why is this happening?’ she said. “I feel like I was the one putting my head above the parapet, that I was going against the norm and that people didn’t have a problem with it generally.”

With all these snacks mounting up, Byrne couldn’t see a space for the parents in the equation: “We want to role model a healthy relationship with food — but we’re missing the chance because they are getting so much elsewhere. It just went against the grain for me as a dietitian who is very well aware of all the guidelines and policies and procedures that every organisation has.”

“Gymnastics has a policy. The GAA, schools and preschools all have really good policies. But there was a big implementation gap.”

Both parents took issue with the fact that children were constantly being targeted with cheap, ultra-processed, high-fat / high-sugar foods, albeit purchased and distributed by people who meant well. Many of these so-called treats are produced by multinational companies known for their kid-focused marketing campaigns.

“The foods offered are part of the commercial food environment that is infiltrating every aspect of our children’s lives,” says Byrne. “Sometimes, it feels like we’re powerless to stop it.”

Rather than shrug their shoulders and say — as many of us do — “that’s just what happens,” Hegarty and Byrne refused to accept this as the norm. Deciding to team up and work with local groups, they started the Kids Food Revolution as a collective action. Reaching out to Clonakilty organisations and businesses, they asked them to avoid giving sweets to children, instead using non-food items to celebrate achievements or offering healthier alternatives.

Approximately 90 people attended the launch in Clonakilty, with speakers including Darina Allen and local TD Christopher O’Sullivan. “We spoke in depth with people from every organisation,” says Hegarty. 

“We invited one member from every organisation, like the town’s sports clubs, after-school activities, school, preschool, and the doctor’s surgery. Everyone that came along was really engaged and positive about spreading the message too.”

Many had already started making changes in their own spaces, Hegarty notes, with sports clubs offering platters of fruit, cheese, and breadsticks as post-training snacks.

“We need regulation at a government level,” says Byrne, who is adamant that this issue needs to be looked at on a broader scale. 

“It’s happened already in Britain. They put restrictions on the promotion of food in a certain category — the less healthy, less nutritious foods — and [supermarkets] are not allowed to display them at the end of aisles or to put them on promotion.”

In 2021, as part of the British government’s obesity strategy, regulations were passed to restrict the promotion of less healthy food or drink products by volume, price and location in medium and large retailers.
Included under the legislation are items like crisps and savoury snacks, confectionary and ice creams. These cannot be sold as multi-buys — for example, buy one, get one free — or within two metres of the checkout, at shop entrances or on the ends of aisles, areas known to drive higher sales.

“We need the Government to take action on this,” says Byrne. “We’re not here to judge people. We’re here to raise awareness that the sheer volume of treats across the kids’
environment impacts their health.”

According to all-Ireland public body Safefood, one in five children in Ireland are overweight or obese, which puts them at risk of type-2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Safefood’s five-year public health campaign, which started in 2024, focuses on building a healthier food environment, particularly for children.

This initiative acknowledges that food marketing harms children’s food choices and aims to “take the responsibility [for food-related ill-health in children] away from the
individual and putting greater responsibility on those who produce and sell our food.”

• Find out more about the Kids Food Revolution on their Instagram account @kidsfoodrevolution
• Sign up for the Safefood newsletter for updates on building a healthier food environment at safefood.net/talk-about-food-subscription