Quarter of primary school children are overweight or obese, hospital programme says
One in four children in primary school in Ireland are either overweight or obese.
That is according to a weight loss programme for children, and their families, at Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin.
The organisers of the W82Go programme say their success rate is better than international norms - and it not only deals with weight loss, but also the affect on a child's physical and mental health.
Dr. Sinead Murphy, the programme’s clinical lead, says the whole family needs to be involved in tackling the problem.
"The children who come to our programme are always accompanied by one parent. We are very happy to family members there, the more support they have the better. The whole family needs to do this together, weight reduction is one of the things we aim for but there's far more to it than that," she said.
