Most of us are aware of the significant increase in the number of young children who are obese in our country.

 

Sadly, however, despite it posing a huge danger to the health of our young children, very little is being done about it in schools across the country.  

 

In fact, according to the European Union’s education information network Eurydice, Irish primary pupils are bottom of the pile when it comes to physical education; while other countries demand 45 hours a year, Irish primary school pupils only get about about 37 hours of P.E. classes throughout a school year.

 

Sadly, it doesn’t get any better as the move up in their education with Ireland ranking third from bottom at second level, spending an average of 45 hours a year in physical activity.

 

As part of our annual Back-to-School survey, MummyPages.ie looked into mums’ views of P.E., asking them to share their thoughts on the matter.

 

 

Of the 1,284 surveyed, a staggering 91 percent of mums think schools need to devote more time to formal physical education; 88 percent of parents voted for a minimum of 30 minutes per day within the curriculum.

 

“With one in four Irish schoolchildren overweight or obese, our MummyPages mums are calling on the Ministers for Education, Health and Children to extend the minimum mandatory time dedicated to physical education within the school week,” said  Laura Erskine, Mum-in-Residence for MummyPages.ie.

 

“As it stands, Ireland ranks lowest in Europe for the amount of time given to formal physical education within the national curriculum, while at the same time is set to be the fattest nation in Europe by 2030.”

 

 

Encouraging schools to take the lead from France, Laura continued: “We should take the lead from France who insists on a minimum 180 minutes a week for P.E. compared to our 60 minutes.”

 

“Research has shown that even an extra 15 minutes a day of moderate physical activity can actually half the risk of obesity in school-going children.

 

“In fact, more than ten-years ago the National Taskforce on Obesity recommended that children should be involved in at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity daily, which is achievable if schools and parents work together.”

 

 

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