14-year-olds today are four stone heavier than teenagers in 1948

CHILDREN aged 14 are four stone heavier than their 1948 forebears — and leaner recessionary times won’t lead to weight loss, experts have warned.

Dr Ivan Perry, professor of epidemiology and public health at University College Cork and author of a report that studied the teens from 1948 through to 2002, warned the new weight of almost 10 stone will probably stabilise and become the norm.

Dr Perry said the increase in weight was linked to the Celtic Tiger boom but this was unlikely to be reversed in the present climate as dependance on the lower end of the food market was increasing.