Tackling obesity - A welcome first step

Changing lifestyles have contributed to a growing obesity problem among young people.

Research has identified the role education, especially the education of parents, plays in confronting this debilitating but avoidable epidemic.

Recognising that link, the Limerick Sports Partnership and the HSE will launch a programme next month to help overweight children become healthy again.

One of the first of its kind in the country, it will involve parent-and-child classes, as well as dieticians and professional fitness instructors.

As anyone who has tried to confront a weight problem knows, support from family and peers is essential, without it very little can be achieved.

Unfortunately, this course will cater for a small number of children, but if it proves successful, it should be expanded as a matter of urgency.