No fry zones should be established around schools in a bid to tackle obesity.
That's one of the recommendations of a study by UCC, which found Ireland is falling behind other European countries in the battle to tackle the problem.
Some 300,000 children are now considered obese and weight related health issues have been described as near epidemic levels.
Today's report also suggests ring fencing tax on unhealthy food to subsidise healthy options and nutritional standards for schools.
HSE Lead on Obesity , Professor Donal O Shea says action needs to be taken.
"You need to look at the degree that oversight and obesity drives chronic illness in adults, and you need to see where it starts - it starts in children.
"You need to say, do we need to do something differently. And the answer is we absolutely need to do it differently. We need to improve our overall health trajectory.
