MummyPages.ie Ireland’s largest community of mums has launched this online petition to put pressure on the Irish Government to invest in our physical fitness education syllabus within the school curriculum.

Research has shown that even an extra 15 minutes of moderate physical activity EVERY DAY can actually half the risk of obesity in school-going children.

We are asking parents to come together and sign our petition to put pressure on the Department of Education, Department of Children and Department of Health to take ACTION and introduce a mandatory 30 minutes of structured PE class EVERY DAY into the school curriculum as opposed to EVERY WEEK as is currently the case.

The issue of obesity is one of national concern to parents, medical professionals and policymakers. However very little notable progress has been made in tackling this issue here in Ireland, with one in four children currently classified as overweight or obese. While our country is set to be the fattest nation in Europe by 2030 according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

We want to provide parents with the opportunity to make their voices heard ahead of the unveiling of the Irish Government's 'National Obesity Plan' due at the end of this month and Finance Budget announcements to be made next month.

As it stands, Ireland ranks lowest in Europe for the amount of time given to formal physical education within the national curriculum. France insist on a weekly minimum of 180 minutes dedicated to PE taught by specialists, compared to our mandatory minimum of just 30 minutes per week and taught by generalist teachers.

Not only do children who exercise daily, actually perform better academically in school, they are also better behaved and are less likely to develop mental health issues during childhood. These children will also live longer, have a lower risk of being overweight and of developing serious long term health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease as they get older. They will have a better lifetime earning potential and ultimately cost the Government less in social welfare and health expenses.