ALMOST A quarter of pre-school children are overweight or obese but are within the normal weight ranges by four years of age, new research has found.
The National Pre-school Nutrition Survey studied 500 children aged one to four years and found a higher incidence of overweight or obesity in children aged two (27 per cent) and three (32 per cent). Some 8 per cent of four-year-olds were overweight or obese.
“Such fluctuations reflect the rapid changes in BMI that occur during normal growth and development, and indicate that by four years of age, most Irish children were within the normal weight ranges,” the authors write.
Some 77 per cent of two- to four-year-olds were within the normal weight range as classified using UK-World Health Organisation criteria. The research, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, was carried out by the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance, which includes UCC, UCD, Trinity College Dublin and the University of Ulster, Coleraine.
It found meat was consumed mostly as processed meats among pre-schoolers. Cured and processed meats were the main contributor to salt intake, and the report found this increased with age.
Pre-schoolers exceeded the Food Safety Authority’s daily salt intake targets of two grams for one- to three-year-olds and three grams for four-year-olds. Almost a quarter of one-year-olds and about 10 per cent of two- and three-year-olds did not get enough iron. Vitamin D intakes were also low.
Poultry was the most widely consumed fresh meat. Bread consumption increased with age, and at age four children were eating more white bread than brown or wholemeal. Consumption of fruit, including fruit juice, and vegetables increased with age, as did consumption of water and soft drinks.
The study found milk or formula was the biggest source of energy, accounting for 29 per cent of energy intake, in one-year-olds. This decreased with age, but milk still accounted for 11 per cent of energy intake at age four.
The proportion of energy from bread, meat, biscuits and cakes increased with age. The contribution of confectionery to energy intake increased from 1 per cent in one-year-olds to 4 per cent in three- and four-year-olds.
Some 60 per cent of parents surveyed thought the foods their children ate could be healthier. They said the main barriers to providing a healthy diet were the child’s likes and dislikes, convenience and someone else minding the child during the day.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said the fact almost one quarter of pre-schoolers were overweight or obese was “a real problem”. On RTÉ’s News at One he said: “Senator Eamonn Coghlan and myself have been talking about introducing a fitness exercise programme in schools, which can be done even in schools that don’t necessarily have playing fields.” He said there should be a programme of education for parents.
