Sports gear promotion under fire

FAMILIES of pupils in small schools could end up struggling to spend hundreds of euro in certain supermarkets to collect tokens for just one football or other sports equipment, it was claimed yesterday.

The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education said small schools and those in poorer areas could not raise the amounts required in the latest sports equipment promotion.

The SuperValu Kids In Action 2008 scheme was launched yesterday by Irish Sports Council chief executive John Treacy, along with research showing that the body mass index and body fat percentage in teenagers who take part in regular formal exercise is significantly lower than in those who do not.