Growing up in Ireland - Children’s health key to the future

Growing Up in Ireland is a national study of 8,500 nine-year-old children conducted over a seven-year period. The first results were published yesterday.

The report makes interesting though often predictable reading. The aim was not to find out things about children that would not have been known but to acquire a deeper understanding of what is happening.

Few will be surprised that more boys engaged in sports than girls, or that girls are more involved in cultural activities, like dancing, music, arts and drama, or that girls tend to spend more time reading. The real insights of the report are the actual statistics provided.