Plan to weigh schoolchildren in battle against obesity

Children could be weighed on their first day of primary school in an drastic attempt to address Ireland’s rising obesity epidemic.

Dr Edna Roche, consultant paediatric endocrinologist at Tallaght Hospital and head of paediatrics at Trinity College, revealed the move yesterday at the AGM of the Irish Medical Organisation.

Under the proposal — which is still being discussed by specialists, GPs, the HSE and Department of Health officials — children as young as four will be checked for signs of obesity when they start school.