Obesity expert calls for weight screening in schools

Children should have their weight screened every year in school because GPs find it difficult to challenge parents on their child’s weight.

The idea was put forward by obesity expert Dr Cathal McCrory who told the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs that his research has shown that parents’ perceptions of their child’s weight was at odds with the reality of their actual situation.

Dr McCrory, a Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College, has published his research on obesity using the Growing Up in Ireland study of a large nationally representative sample of children over a number of years.