Dr Daniel McCartney: Exercise key to Ireland's battle with the bulge

THE Irish are among the fattest in Europe. Seventy percent of adult men, aged 18-64 years, and 52% of women, in the same age bracket, are overweight or obese, and these figures are higher among our over-65s.

A quarter of our children are overweight or obese, and these figures are rising, year on year.

So, how did this happen and are commercial dieting and calorie-restriction the answers?