One in four three-year-olds are overweight or obese according to a new study.
The latest report from the national study of children, "Growing Up in Ireland", has found that 19% of three-year-olds are overweight, while another 6% are obese.
Researcher Dr Cathal McCrory said the findings were alarming and demonstrated that indicators for obesity are present at a very young age.
Children's weight is also related to household class, as 9% in the disadvantaged group are overweight compared with 5% in families in the professional group.
The study found that children were found to have good health overall.
The impact of the recession was also evident in the findings, which has returned to study the same three-year-olds who were also studied at eight months old.
The study shows that 61% of families reported difficulties in making ends meet compared with 44% when the children were infants.
Interviews were conducted with 11,000 families of three-year-olds.
