Pay children to stay healthy, urges expert

A HEALTH expert has come up with a novel idea to tackle the country’s expanding childhood obesity problem — pay children to stay healthy.

The radical proposal comes from Professor Niall Moyna of Dublin City University, who says that action is needed to promote better health among school-going children.

According to the professor of health and human performance, a simple incentive such as giving Leaving Certificate students who meet set health criteria a bursary of between €1,000 and €2,000 would save our health system billions in the long run.