A quarter of nine-year-olds in Ireland are overweight and 7% are obese a study has found.

ESRI's Growing Up In Ireland report showed that girls are more likely than boys to have weight problems at this age.

Low levels of exercise and sitting for too long in front of televisions and computers games while making poor food choices is to blame.

"There is a broader issue where people have more food available and a less active lifestyle. There is also much less parental awareness with half of parents thinking their children were the right weight," Professor Richard Layte said.

“Poorer areas tend to have more takeaways and they have fewer supermarkets in them,” said the report’s author, Professor Richard Layte of the ESRI.

The problem was more widespread among the disadvantaged in society.

"So poorer people, living in disadvantaged areas, tend to have less access to good food, so they have to travel further to get it.

"They also have the disadvantage then of having less money in the first place, so they’re less able to afford these things," he said.

Professor Layte called for an education programme on weight, diet and portion sizes. He believes children's weight should be assessed by GPs and more exercise should be built into a day.

(GK)