Obesity fears over study into teens’ eating habits

A THIRD of parents do not know or care how their teenagers spend their lunch money.

Cakes and fizzy drinks top the list, new research on the eating habits of Irish adolescents has found. However, many use some of the money to buy credit for their mobile phones.

The research, undertaken by Dr Alan Collins and Dr Mary McCarthy at the Department of Food Business and Development in University College Cork (UCC), and assisted by Dr Karen Harrington, a senior community dietician with the Health Service Executive Southern Region, will fuel concern about the rise in teenage obesity.