An expert on childhood obesity has warned that the country's only clinic to treat children and teenagers with weight problems is "overwhelmed" with demand.
Dr Grace O'Malley is the Clinical Lead at W82GO Child and Adolescent Obesity Service in Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin and also conducts research in Royal College of Surgeons.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said the pandemic has had a very negative impact on young people who attend the clinic.
Referrals rose by around 38%, waiting times for first appointment have tripled and there has been a 300% rise in children attending with complex severe Stage 3 obesity..
Dr O'Malley noted that the W82GO Service is only a part-time service due lack of funding and that it had become "completely overwhelmed".
She welcomed the development of the HSE Model of Care for Obesity and highlighted that planned funding for the service in CHI is absolutely essential in order to provide care for those with the most complex obesity.
"Children can be waiting up to two years to be seen. We are dealing with some really severe cases.
"Some of our teenagers are going blind due to obesity-related health conditions. Others are dropping out of education with detrimental effects on their future health and wellbeing.
"Children with severe obesity often need more than 'lifestyle change' to help improve their health and and personalised treatment is essential including access to a dietitian, physiotherapy, psychology, medical social work, pharmacotherapies and surgical interventions."
Dr O'Malley added: "This is another problem - Ireland has no bariatric surgery facilities for adolescents and we badly need them. They will not be available until we secure funding, plan adequate training of health professionals and be ready to offer a high quality service once the new children's hospital opens."
She said children's routines have been adversely affected during the pandemic and this has made management of obesity through lifestyle treatment very difficult.
"Our patients like others, have had healthcare appointments and interventions cancelled and delayed," added Dr O'Malley, who also works in the School of Physiotherapy at the RCSI.
"For some children, anxiety levels increased and getting back to the school environment was a challenge.
"Many of the children we work with are bullied so remote schooling felt safer for them. Others developed anxiety due to learning of the links between obesity and severe forms of Covid-19 or due to their parents getting sick.
"I would urge that we nurture compassion for those children whose health has been adversely affected by the society upheaval we have all endured. The pandemic has not affected us equally."
The HSE, in a statement, said its Model of Care for Management of Overweight and Obesity (MoC) was being implemented on a phased basis.
"Future plans" included fully staffing the multidisciplinary team at W82GO Temple Street to include doctors, nurses, psychology, dietetics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and medical social work to provide specialist services for children and young people.
The HSE also said that two primary care based specialist weight management services for children and young people are being established this year.
Research shows that around one in five children in Ireland is overweight or obese.
The HSE said that it expected obesity rates among children to rise as a result of the pandemic, due to increased consumption of treat foods, reduced levels of physical activity and increased screen-time over the period 2020 and 2021.
It advised parents who are concerned about their child's weight to speak to their GP or Practice Nurse to find out what supports are available locally.
