Ms Kizzy Moroney:

With children who might be carrying a lot more weight or who are morbidly obese, we do manage that under health care professionals and state that there might be some weight loss involved. It is managed closely. Low-calorie diets are not validated for children as they are not appropriate for them. For younger children the aim is weight maintenance. It might take four or five years for them to reach proportionate height-to-weight ratios. It is a long process. As Ms Flanagan pointed out, the more people one educates the more it transfers to cousins, grannies and other grandchildren, and they will all start to come on board. That is the benefit of the multidisciplinary approach and lifestyle intervention programmes.

There was a question about waiting lists and what happens in the interim. Currently in Temple Street some children who might not be suitable for the programme go into an outpatient service. Again, there is a year-long waiting list for it. There are no community services and they might only get one appointment.