Food For Thought: Enough Obese Kids In Ireland To Fill Both The Aviva And Croker

Sometimes it takes a person to put it into context for the message to really hit home.

And these guys did.

Experts are claiming that there are enough obese kids in Ireland to fill the capacities of both the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park.

A “hostile and toxic” environment is being blamed for the number of children in Ireland that have ballooned in weight in recent years.

The average 14-year-old teenager in Ireland now is a total of three stone heavier than their 1940s counterpart.

The Director of Human Health and Nutrition at Safefood, Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, told the Irish Sun that one in five schoolchildren are either overweight or obese.

And she said that this figure rises to one in four when it comes to eight-year-olds.

Enough obese children in Ireland to fill the Aviva....

...and Croke Park.

Dr Foley-Nolan put the figures into context at an Oireachtais Health Committee yesterday and said that there are enough overweight children in Ireland to fill both the Aviva and Croker.

She continued: “For many children in Ireland, their First Holy Communion is one of the first milestones and now one in four of those children require clothes sizes above what would have been required a few years ago.”

She said that a ‘fat tax’ would send a strong statement.

She explained: “There is evidence that shows it will have some impact and it is also a statement from government to the population and the industry that we need to get our act together.”