Rising obesity will see life expectancy fall, says conference

A conference on the ''Ethics of Eating'' has heard that growing rates of obesity present a major public health problem for governments across the western world.

It has also claimed that today's young people are expected to live shorter lives than their parents' generation due to a dramatic rise in obesity levels in children.

Chairman of the Food Safety Authority, Pat Wall, has said, “78 % of 7 to 10 year old kids are spending at least three hours a day in front of a screen, either a TV screen or a computer screen.

"Rather than playing football they are playing virtual football and we are sitting on a health time bomb because of this."