60% of Irish people are either overweight or living with obesity.
That’s according to new research published on World Obesity Day today, which found 10% children aged between 9 and 12 have more than one takeaway per week.
The study as shows that 45% of parents say they have more takeaways now as a family than before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Executive Director of the Irish Coalition for People Living with Obesity, Susie Birney, says stigma around weight begins in childhood:
"You've got Mr Man - which has Mr Fat, Mr Greedy and Mr Lazy. Those messages are there and [children] are picking up on this.
"There was a study done once and they said to children 'who do you want to play with?'
"They had no problem playing with someone with a disability, or somebody of a different culture.
"They said they wouldn't play with someone who was a bigger size."
