Schools that take on board some of the recommendations of the obesity taskforce will become healthier and calmer places if the experience of a primary school for boys in Gort, Co Galway is representative.
Fizzy drinks and sugary snacks are banned from lunchboxes at Scoil Eoin. Instead, the school's 60 students have bottles of water which they can reach for at any time.
At 10am each day the children are allowed to eat a piece of fruit while they work.
"It's a small initiative to get them to eat fruit. They have now started to bring in all different types of fruit, from mango to passion fruit, and they want the teachers to try them," said the school's principal, Francis O'Connor.
The initiative began some six weeks ago and already the school's four teachers have noticed a difference in pupils' behaviour.
"Their concentration levels are much better over the last few weeks. They are a lot calmer. They don't seem to be as hyperactive or high," Mr O'Connor said.
"You would have to be concerned about the whole issue of obesity and we did take it on board when we made our decision to introduce these changes," he added.
The taskforce recommended that all schools, as part of their school development planning, should be encouraged to develop policies to promote healthy eating and active living.