Over the last few months, there have been several newspaper articles highlighting the obesity problem in Ireland.
Irish Examiner...Teenagers going under the knife for obesity problems
Irish Examiner...Rise in the number of unfit applicants for the Irish Army (Men have to be able to run a mile in 11.5 minutes and women in 13 minutes.)
In the UK, there are similar problems with obesity in adults and children. Some of the stats for the UK are pretty shocking in that 10% of children are obese at age 4-5 and I presume it's probably similar in Ireland.
In Scotland...a country not noted for lean cuisine...one primary school in Stirling is doing something to tackle the problem. Every day at St.Ninians, each of the students must do a 'daily mile'. This includes the youngest children and none of the children in the school are overweight despite the fact it is rising elsewhere in the UK.
Elaine Wyllie, headteacher of St Ninians, said: “I get at least two emails a day from other schools and local authorities asking how we do it. The thought of children across the country running every day because of something we’ve done is phenomenal. It’s a commonsense approach to children’s fitness, which is free and easy. The most important thing is that the children really enjoy it, otherwise you couldn’t sustain it. They come back in bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked, how children used to look. It’s joyous to see.”
Similar programmes are being rolled out in London and in other parts of Scotland and England.
Are there similar programmes in Ireland???
Great idea but the problem in irish schools are that students aren't allowed to even run in the yard anymore and many schools are paid to stock sugar leaden vending machines. A lot of schools don't have PE facilities or offer PE as a option. Eamon Coghlan has been saying this for years. I imagine irish schools have a serious problems with overweight and obese children especially those of a lower socio economic status, the fault and solution lies at home but it's schools who have a important role to play
ReplyDeleteIt is frightening to imagine that we are raising a big percentage of children who will ultimately be morbidly obese in years to come. Of course we will blame everything from economic class to bad weather and lack of facilities, but in reality laziness on behalf of government and money are to blame. Get rid of the vending machines, parents should prepare better and more nutritious meals for their children, and finally, teachers, get more involved in physical training, not curtailing it by banning running in school yards. Yes, obesity is a worl wide crisis, the food industry also is partly to blame with all the processing, but let us here in Ireland adapt a maverick approach, and like in Scotland get our children out running in parks, hail, rain or shine, just a thought
ReplyDeleteIt is frightening to imagine that we are raising a big percentage of children who will ultimately be morbidly obese in years to come. Of course we will blame everything from economic class to bad weather and lack of facilities, but in reality laziness on behalf of government and money are to blame. Get rid of the vending machines, parents should prepare better and more nutritious meals for their children, and finally, teachers, get more involved in physical training, not curtailing it by banning running in school yards. Yes, obesity is a worl wide crisis, the food industry also is partly to blame with all the processing, but let us here in Ireland adapt a maverick approach, and like in Scotland get our children out running in parks, hail, rain or shine, just a thought
ReplyDelete