Rise in children’s weight may reverse health gains

WITH the obesity time bomb ticking louder than ever people must take more responsibility for their health, warned junior health minister Mary Wallace yesterday.

Ms Wallace, who has special responsibility for health promotion, told a cross-border conference in Belfast that the rise in obesity threatened to halt inroads made in recent years in tackling more traditional killer diseases.

She referred to recently released figures from the SLÁN 2007 report, indicating that almost 40% of the population in the republic are overweight and 25% are obese.