Ways to sustainably achieve a healthier planet and healthier population explored at public meeting

Over the past 12 months, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has consulted with its community of doctors to identify and set its advocacy priorities for 2023-2025. Throughout the consultation process, climate change and its impact on health was identified as one of the priority issues for RCPI’s Trainees, Members and Fellows.  

This year’s Public Meeting at RCPI’s Annual Symposium – St Luke’s was designed to delve into climate change and its impact on health. Healthy Planet, Healthy You explored the connection between the health of the planet and the health of its population, and the sustainable steps we can take for a healthy future. Speakers highlighted the dangers of disposable vapes, and offered practical advice on diet, exercise and coping strategies to the 390 attendees who joined the meeting online and in person at No. 6 Kildare Street.

Prof Des Cox, Chair of the RCPI Policy Group on Tobacco, Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Children's Health Ireland (CHI), and Clinical Professor with the School of Medicine, UCD, lifted the lid on the dangers of disposable vapes on our health and environment and offered the following recommendations and advice:

• Ban disposable vapes and ban the use of flavours
• Stronger legislation on advertising and marketing of vapes in particular online marketing
• Raise the age of sale of both tobacco products and vapes from 18 to 21 years
• Doctors should ask about vape use and provide advice in their clinical practice

With the global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, how can we ensure a secure food system for everyone? Dr John Allman, a GP with a Special Interest in Lifestyle Medicine and Nutrition, looked at the ways we can deliver that sustainable food system and offered practical measures and small changes we can make including:

• Choose foods which have a low environmental impact
• Count plants not calories – aim to eat 30 different plant foods in a week (a red pepper and a yellow pepper count as two different plants)
• Eat the rainbow – each colour food has different health benefits
• Make simple swaps – for example, increase bean consumption and cut down on meat consumption
• Eat seasonally and locally
• Read the ‘Fixing Food Together’ report launched by the Climate & Health Alliance for more hints and tips on sustainable diet

Ms Janis Morrissey, Director of Health Promotion, Information and Training, Irish Heart Foundation, started her talk with the statistic that 80% of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable through a healthy and active lifestyle. Ms Morrissey gave practical advice on how to achieve that healthier more active lifestyle including:

• Pause and reflect on your current lifestyle and think about what you are ready for – what does a sustainable active lifestyle look like for you?
• Map your habits – try and identify any triggers that may be impacting on your current approach to activity and movement
• If you have been unwell or inactive for a long time, consult your GP before starting an activity programme
• Choose activities that you enjoy
• Get active with a friend or family member to keep motivated
• Plan times for activity and movement into your weekly diary so it becomes a priority, and take every opportunity to move throughout the day
• Listen to your body – stop the activity if you feel unwell or have pain

Ms Morrissey ended the talk with a call to become an active citizen: “If you want to be more active, you need to live in a world which supports you to be active. I recommend getting active as a citizen, talk to your elected officials and demand a better environment which supports you to be active.”

Prof Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and Consultant Psychiatrist at Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, looked at ecoanxiety and offered practical tips and strategies for coping with the impact of climate change, including:

• Try to normalise the anxiety, moving from pathological to adaptive i.e. there is a lot to be anxious about but what can I do to improve the outlook
• Get involved – speak to elected representatives, get involved in organisations who are working hard to tackle climate change
• Make changes to your lifestyle – choosing a sustainable diet, being more active.

The public meeting was concluded with a lively panel discussion which provided the attendees with the opportunity to ask the speakers questions and further explore and discuss climate change and its impact on health.

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