All work and no play makes Jack an obese boy

Teaching matters:We like to think that today's young people have it all. They will be more educated, have better jobs and live longer than any previous generation. In short, they will have a better quality of life.

Or will they?

Few people in Ireland today can have failed to notice that our children are getting bigger. What's unusual about that? Most children who go into primary school as infants and come out at the other end as pre-teenagers, a good deal "bigger".

But anyone who looks beyond normal height gain will start to see a different type of growth. And those who don't see it should look a little harder. Think waist lines rather than height. For today, according to the Health Service Executive, one in four children in Ireland is either overweight or obese. And the problem is getting worse.

And it is a real problem. Expanding waistlines are only the tip of the iceberg, and it is time that everyone began to wake up and look beyond those broadening belts.

Irish children today have higher levels of blood sugar than children a generation ago. Their blood pressure is higher. They have higher levels of bad cholesterol and lower levels of good cholesterol. Their arteries are hardening and there are alarmingly increased instances of diabetes and hypertension.

These and many other negative trends add up to a time bomb that is ticking for the long-term health of our children. So, sadly, many of today's children will not enjoy the type of lifestyles that I referred to in the first paragraph.

There is no doubt that diets dominated by junk food are a significant contributory factor. It is also clear that increasingly sedentary lifestyles are also having a major effect. Put the two together and it's simple. Every day our children take in more calories than they can burn off.

Whenever a problem like this is pointed out, it's not unusual to hear cries for a new programme to be introduced into schools. It's almost standard practice: let the schools take care of it.

But, in this case, we already have the programme in place. It's called the physical education curriculum, covering as it does a range of activities including athletics, dance, gymnastics, games, outdoor and adventure activities and aquatics. Even a cursory glance through its pages would leave the reader wondering how on earth we could have an obesity problem.

Two weeks ago we found out one of the reasons why we are failing to make progress on tackling obesity. The annual Education Conference of the INTO was presented with a report which shows that most schools are simply unable to translate the theory of the curriculum into practice.

According to this report, because of poor facilities, gymnastics is seldom if ever taught in primary schools, while six out of every 10 pupils rarely if ever experience outdoor or adventure activities. Only 30 per cent of pupils are taught dance on a regular basis; only a third receive frequent swimming lessons.

A key reason why so many children do not get these types of activity is a lack of basic resources in schools. And by "basic" I mean somewhere indoors for pupils to have lessons.

All schools should have a general purpose room or PE hall. If Ireland had a Mediterranean climate, then perhaps it could be argued that indoor facilities aren't needed. But unfortunately our climate dictates that from now to St Patrick's Day (and that's an optimistic long-term weather forecast) there is little chance of outdoor physical education in most schools.

It is unacceptable that physical education in our schools is so weather-dependent. We are only fooling ourselves by pretending that primary schools have a modern physical education curriculum when we don't even have a suitable venue in every school.

Another problem is that we don't devote enough time to physical education in schools. The average weekly timetable for physical education across the EU in primary schools is 109 minutes. Here in Ireland it is less than an 60. The curriculum recommends an hour per week and, according to the INTO, two-thirds of teachers would like to spend more time on PE.

One way or the other, the Government will foot the bill. The only decision to be made is whether that's in the form of "preventative" investment in primary education now or "find a cure" investment in health care when this generation of children present with serious difficulties in the not-too-distant future.

But, at the end of the day, properly resourced schools can only do so much. Parents must step up to the mark as well for the sake of their own children. Not all physical activity can or should be located in schools. There are good arguments for more walking or cycling (to and from school would be a start), a little less time spent on computer games, and more counting of calories in the local take away!

To those who think I'm scaremongering, have a look at the presentation that Niall Moyna of Dublin City University made to the INTO Education Conference on www.into.ie.