A consultant cardiologist yesterday called for a greater emphasis on PE in schools after a new study found 65 per cent of adolescents are not taking regular exercise.
Dr Vincent Maher, who practises at Dublin's Tallaght Hospital, said the findings were alarming and had enormous implications for the young people involved.
Those who were inactive risked weight gain and were at increased risk of heart disease and colon cancer. They were also more likely to have mental health problems as exercise is a destresser and confidence booster which they miss out on, he said.
The study of activity levels among 940 second level students in the East Coast Area Health Board region also found almost a quarter of the students were overweight or obese.
Carried out among 15- to 17-year-olds between February and March this year, the research has yet to be published in full but its initial findings were disclosed yesterday at the start of Irish Heart Week, during which the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) hopes to make parents more aware of the importance for children and adolescents of being physically active for one hour every day.
The research indicated that adolescents who felt they received higher family support for involvement in physical activity or sport were significantly more likely to be regularly active than children who perceived low support in their home.
Dr Maher, who is also medical director of the IHF, said there was a huge emphasis in schools on competition in sport but competition had a downside in that only 10 per cent of students could make the school team and then the other 90 per cent would be dissuaded from taking part at all.
He said he recognised there were some obstacles to children getting exercise. If they took a bicycle to school in Dublin they would be taking their life in their hands, he said. "We need safe cycle routes like in other cities.," he said. Dr Maher urged parents to praise their children for taking exercise, to encourage them by watching them play games and to be role models, by taking exercise themselves.