Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 24 October 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Tackling Obesity and the Promotion of Healthy Eating in Schools: Discussion

4:00 pm

Mr. Kevin Creery:

Approximately 6,000 people are using the app, including parents and families. In terms of how it works, for example, when a child reaches level 5 on the app he or she receives a homework pass. We are currently in consultation with local councils on the provision of free access to local amenities, such as local swimming pools, for a family when a child reaches level 6 on the app. The programme has been evaluated by Queen's University in Belfast. A student there is currently doing her PhD on Healthy Kidz. As stated earlier by Mr. McCorry, the results to date have been really good.

The programme was piloted in Portlaoise, which my colleague, Damien Mitchell, will speak about now.