One in 12 kids have high blood pressure due to salt

A major study of primary schoolchildren has found that about one in 12 has high blood pressure and more than half are ingesting too much salt.

The increasingly unhealthy profile of our schoolchildren is captured in a survey of more than 1,000 third- and fourth-class pupils from Cork City and Mitchelstown, Co Cork, a quarter of whom are either overweight or obese.

The same proportion are failing to reach recommended daily exercise levels of one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity.