Whether or not you have been denying yourself chocolate for Lent, it's probably fair to say you're pretty excited about stuffing your face on Easter Sunday.
(Source: www.pixabay.com)However a doctor from the Royal College of Surgeons says cutting the cost of Easter Eggs too early is fuelling childhood obesity.
Shelves across the country are currently stacked with chocolate eggs being sold at reduced prices, while figures from SafeFood show that one in four Irish children is overweight or obese.
Dr. Grace O'Malley says retailers have to take some responsibility.
"Shoppers really do want promotions but they want them on healthier foods. So they want to see deals, promotions and bargains on good-quality meat, vegetables and fruit, not on the stuff that's very cheap for companies to make. [It's[ really good for promoting and marketing because it works and we buy more of it, but it really doesn't help us at all."
Dr. O'Malley has also outlined some of the risks of chowing down on too many Easter eggs.
"Unfortunately we know that the consumption of these products is related to the risk of obesity, cardio-vascular disease, cancers and Type 2 diabetes, which, when you live in a country where we all pay for our health system, it does actually affect us all. So although we might be getting bargains, the tax-payer in the long run is losing out."
