Senator claims overweight children ‘tantamount to child abuse’

A Fine Gael senator has said it is “tantamount to child abuse” when a young child is overweight.

Catherine Noone’s comments followed publication of a national survey on obesity which found that 23% of two to four-year-old children were overweight or obese. Although the survey indicated that most children fell within normal weight ranges by the time they reached four, Ms Noone said there was a need to educate parents.

In the Seanad, she said: “This is a delicate issue to address with children, given the enormous psychological implications for parents of coming down hard on their children in terms of what they are eating. It is a complex area.