Ireland has to improve youth fitness says expert

Niall Moyna: “If we’re really serious about this we have to educate kids”

Ireland is a “Third World” nation when it comes to the physical sporting health of its young people, according to a leading expert in the field.

Professor Niall Moyna of the Centre for Preventive Medicine in DCU is involved in a research study of which details were released yesterday and showed that signs of early onset of heart disease in 15-year-olds are linked to poor fitness.

The DCU football manager also stressed that reshaping behaviour in primary school is vital if recent trends are to be reversed.

“The Sports Council have made great strides in the last 20 years, there’s no doubt about that,” Moyna said. “But we’re still a Third World nation. I mean, we talk the talk but we’re couch-potatoes sportspeople…….. see the full story at :- http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/other-sports/ireland-has-to-improve-youth-fitness-says-expert-305617.html