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.

“I believe there is a need for a public awareness campaign to educate parents on this issue. It is tantamount to child abuse when a child of one or two years is overweight. We need to educate society on this issue.

“A child’s relationship with food is developed by the time he or she reaches six, seven or eight years of age ... we need this to be something the Government is pushing hard with schools, youth organisations and organisations which educate parents.”

The survey Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance survey investigated habitual food and beverage consumption in 500 children aged 12 to 59 months.

It found: “Overall, the majority [77%] of two to four-year-old children were within the normal weight range as classified using UK-World Health Organisation criteria. However, 23% were defined as overweight or obese. Although higher levels of overweight and obesity were observed in children aged two (27%) and three years (32%), only 8% of four-year-olds were classified as overweight or obese.

“Such fluctuations reflect the rapid changes in body mass index that occur during normal growth and development and indicate that by four years of age, most Irish children were within the normal weight ranges.”