Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

We have discussed obesity in the House for some time and Senator Eamonn Coghlan is doing much work on it. I bring to the attention of the House a study which has found that children who are breast-feed for the first six months are less likely to be obese when they reach nine years of age. Growing Up in Ireland was a wide-ranging study of 8,500 nine year olds and 11,000 nine month olds. The study also showed that children who are weaned on to solids later have less chance of becoming obese.

We know what obesity is costing the State in health terms in later life and it would save the State money if it afforded the likes of the La Leche League, a voluntary body promoting and helping first-time mothers - I know men do not breast-feed, so this concerns women-----