40% of obese children treated in Temple St ‘socially withdrawn’ because of weight issues

Some 40% of children seen at the obesity clinic in Temple Street Children’s Hospital displayed withdrawn behaviour and psychological difficulties.

The figures, presented by Dr Sinead Murphy, a paediatrician in Temple St, also indicated that 40% of those treated at the clinic had high cholesterol.

The findings were part of a presentation on the subject of childhood obesity given yesterday at the St Luke’s Symposium in Dublin, organised by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI).