School activitiesAwareness of obesity as a problem among Irish children is no longer an issue - what is needed is to teach and encourage them to be active much earlier in life, according to Liam Hennessy, fitness director with the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
By making being active fun, non-competitive and skill-based, this goal can be achieved, he added.
Speaking after the announcement of the extension of a pilot programme aimed at encouraging primary school children to be more active, he said: "The evidence is overwhelming that Irish children are under-active and getting fatter.
"We know obesity is a problem in Ireland; we don't need any more corroboration evidence to support this.
"What we need to do is put energy into getting children active. We have found that with a little encouragement, children's enthusiasm for being active is huge.
"There is huge interest out there, we just need to tap into it."
Childhood obesity in Ireland is "a time bomb storing up problems for future healthcare", said Dr Bernadette Carr, medical director with VHI Healthcare, which is also promoting the programme.
"In the last year, in one Dublin hospital alone there were more than 100 obese children being treated for a range of disorders all caused by poor diet and lack of exercise," she noted.
Mr Hennessy said he had noticed a worrying trend over the past eight years among young rugby players coming from schools and clubs. Young players aged between 15 and 19 were fatter, less fit and had very poor mobility, he said.
"This is a serious problem for us all, not just for rugby. This is not just a body weight issue; general fitness and ability to play the game are also affected."
The primary school pilot programme was launched by the IRFU and VHI Healthcare last September with the aim of tackling the growing problem of obesity in children.
Some 3,100 children in fifth and sixth class in 50 primary schools in Dublin and Galway have benefited from the Fit for Fun programme, which targets children during their formative years to show them the benefits of exercise and healthy eating.
The programme concentrates on skill development such as agility, balance, co-ordination and speed. Teacher handbooks provide a rationale on this fitness development approach and the Fit for Fun coach pays two visits to the school over a period of six weeks.
Mr Hennessy said coaches on the programme had encountered "great enthusiasm" from the children and had noticed a market difference in their skills and agility within six weeks.
Last week, plans were unveiled to extend the project to 100 schools around the country next September.
A follow-up nutritional programme and a second phase of skill development exercises will be offered to the 50 schools currently involved in the programme.
Research released last month by the European Heart Network showed that up to one in 10 of seven to 11-year-olds in northern Europe are overweight. A study from Dublin City University this month revealed that almost two-thirds of Irish teenagers do no exercise.
Teenagers are more likely to watch TV, play computer games, talk on the phone and sit around chatting rather than take exercise, according to the study which involved 15 to 17-year-olds from 24 schools in the East Coast Area Health Board Region.