The worst fears about Irish inflation rates are expected to be confirmed next month with the results of a countrywide survey showing that one in five people on the island is obese.
The North-South Ireland Food Consumption Study, conducted over three years by universities in both parts of the country, is believed to confirm that the average Irish person is almost a stone (6 kg) heavier than in 1990.
Within the space of a decade, it seems, people in the Republic have gone from being forced to tighten their belts to being forced to loosen them, as poor diet, sedentary jobs and lack of exercise take their toll.
The fat-cat economy is at least partly to blame, with longer working hours reducing opportunities for exercise and creating a situation in which - the survey will say - half of all Irish people are now overweight.
A measure of Ireland's dramatic growth rate is average bra-size. Back in the lean and hungry 1980s the best-selling size in Dunnes Stores was a mere 32B. Five years ago it had increased to 34B. Now, according to Dunnes, the most popular sizes are 34C and 36C. With one leading economist predicting another 10 years of the boom, there are real fears that the country could go the way of Dolly Parton.
Economic parallels are undermined somewhat by the fact that the food consumption study refers to both parts of the island; and in any case, expanding waist-size is not just an Irish phenomenon.
The UK Arcadia Group (which includes Principles, Dorothy Perkins and Racing Green) is changing the way it sizes clothes after a survey of 3,000 women found that shapes have changed substantially since the current dress sizes were drawn up in 1950.
"Busts are bigger and slightly lower, waists are thicker and hips are slightly larger," says Ms Sandra Bull, Arcadia's head of corporate communications. "The change in waist size was the most significant finding for us . . There is no reason to believe that the trend in Ireland is any different."
And while we are getting fatter, interest in diet books has waned, according to Eason, the largest distributor of such books in Ireland. Ms Sally Mimnagh, Eason's book purchasing manager, notes a shift towards nutrition guides rather than the traditional diet books. "Diet books used to sell ferociously well - books such as the Scarsdale Diet and the F-Plan Diet - but they are not the huge sellers they once were."