Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has stated that a recommendation that schools provide children with 30 minutes of exercise each day is unworkable.

He told the Dail that the length of the school day and the pressure to focus on other areas of the curriculum means that it is "unrealistic" to set a daily requirement for PE, the Irish Times reports.

Any changes to the length of the day to incorporate such a scheme would require significant resources, as well as agreement with teaching unions.

The suggestion was outlined in a report from the National Taskforce on Obesity as one way of tackling the problem in the country's young people, as one in five teenagers is overweight or obese.

Instead, Mr Quinn stated that parents should take a greater responsibility for their children's wellbeing, noting that just 20 per cent of kids' waking hours is spent at school.

"Their level of physical activity during the rest of the week is just as important," he said.

This week, health promotion group Safefood warned that many people in Ireland are in denial about their weight and stated that the average person is a stone heavier than 20 years ago, the Independent reported.
 

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