Ms Grace O'Malley:

The school meals programme is a great initiative, although yesterday I had one patient whose mum had specifically asked four times for no biscuits to be included in the meal, yet every day the child comes back with biscuits in her bag. The programme is working, but we need to ensure we are providing children with the healthiest options and that there is proper oversight of what is in the meals.

Of course, parents are the biggest role models for all children and they are the most important people in the life of a child or teenager. When we are faced every day with parents who are struggling to do their best for their teenagers, we can see they need support. I do not mean that children do not listen to their parents - of course they do - but when one has a teenager who is dealing with changes in his or her own body and trying to be mature enough to deal with the fact that he or she is clinically obese, the parent needs help and extra support.

We need to be really clear about the fact that six months is the best age for weaning. It needs to be a message that everybody hears.

According to Dr. Anne Dee and Professor Ivan Perry in the safefood report, the majority of costs related to obesity and excess weight were indirect costs, and 60% of these were due to absenteeism. There is an opportunity to invest in human capital, which is the most valuable asset in the country. If we do not have healthy people we will not have an economy, because there will not be anybody working.

For patients who are waiting for services, there is a website, w82go.ie, which also has a section for clinicians. Deputy Mitchell O'Connor asked about smartphone applications. We have developed an Android app called Reactivate to try to bridge the gap in treatment and we have looked at providing remote treatment. It is a behavioural change app for teenagers which uses goal-setting to improve nutrition, activity levels, fitness, sleep and emotional well-being.