Fat facts: 20% of kids aged three are too heavy

One in five Irish three-year-olds is overweight, with direct links between obesity and socially disadvantaged families.

A study has found 6% of all three-years-olds are now classified as obese, which again will raise concerns about the ticking health time bomb.

The findings contained in the latest report in the Growing Up in Ireland series, which is being formally launched by Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald later today, highlight evidence of social class differences in diet, health and cognitive ability among children by the age of three.