The latest Central Statistics Office report on children’s health highlights strong overall health among Irish children but also raises concerns about dental care and access to services.

The results were based on a sample of 6,000 surveys randomly selected from the census 2022 database.

The findings estimated that over 90% of children between the ages of two and twelve were considered to have “good or very good” general health, compared to around 89% of children aged between 13 and 17.

However, Kildare GP and Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dr Brendan O’Shea told The Anton Savage Show that he would question the accuracy of these results.

“I’d go back to the methodology,” he said.

“This was an invitation, it was sent digitally and it was a digital survey.

“That works fine for kind of middle Ireland, but you’d really be wondering whether important subgroups are being missed out on this.

“Paradoxically, if a house has a child with a serious medical condition, I think in a lot of instances, that house is under a lot of pressure, and I think you’re less likely to have people responding to this kind of survey.”

Child lying in a hospital bed awaiting operation. Image: imtmphoto / Alamy Stock Photo

Dr O’Shea said that households that are “not digitally literate” or “chaotic” are likely not represented by these results.

“We understand from another survey, which is Growing Up in Ireland project, which is much tighter data gathering, that overweight is a really significant issue with around 15%, 20% of 15-to-24-year-olds overweight, and eight per cent obese,” he said.

“So, we’re not really getting that feel, and the whole issue of overweight doesn’t seem to have been addressed in this survey.”

According to Dr O’Shea, we’re “not going to get answers” to important questions relating to the connection between phone usage and mental health, and lingering issues following the COVID-19 pandemic from the recent CSO report.

Main image: A child in hospital. Image: Rightdisc / Alamy