Health in Ireland : Key Trends - Child and Adolescent Health
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From: Department of Health
- Published on: 17 May 2026
- Last updated on: 17 May 2026
- Child poverty
- Breastfeeding rates on discharge from maternity facility
- Newborn bloodspot screening
- Child and young person mortality
- Obesity
- Bronchiolitis and Asthma
- Chlamydia
- Tobacco
Child poverty
Figure 7.1 : Consistent poverty rate for age-groups 0-17 years, 2015-2024
Source:
Central Statistics Office, Department of Health.
Notes:
(i) The consistent poverty measure is defined as the proportion of people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation.
(ii) The data for 2023-2024 are provisional.
Breastfeeding rates on discharge from maternity facility
Figure 7.2 : Babies breastfed (exclusively and non-exclusively) at the point of discharge from maternity facility, 2015-2024
Source:
National Perinatal Reporting System (NPRS), Healthcare Pricing Office (HPO), HSE.
Notes:
(i) Data is based on live births, maternities and excludes early neonatal deaths.
(ii) Any breastfeeding includes type of feeding recorded as either breast or combined.
Newborn bloodspot screening
Table 7.1 : Babies consented through their parents/care-givers to take up offer of bloodspot screening, 2015-2024
| Metric | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of babies screened | 65795 | 64082 | 62081 | 61,320 | 59597 | 57016 | 60985 | 54775 | 54820 | 54319 |
| Number of opt-outs | 35 | 46 | 44 | 41 | 41 | 37 | 60 | 81 | 106 | 115 |
| Percentage of babies screened | 99.95 | 99.93 | 99.93 | 99.93 | 99.93 | 99.94 | 99.90 | 99.85 | 99.81 | 99.79 |
Source:
Child Health Public Health / National Healthy Childhood Programme, HSE.
Child and young person mortality
Figure 7.3 : Age-standardised death rate per 100,000 population by age (0-24) and gender, 2015-2024
Male
Female
Source:
Central Statistics Office, Department of Health.
Notes:
(i) The figures for 2024 are provisional. They should be treated with caution as they refer to deaths registered in this year and may be incomplete.
(ii) The rates provided are age standardised to the European standard population and are presented as rates per 100,000 population.
Obesity
Figure 7.4 : Prevalence of overweight, including obesity among 7-8 year old, 2008-2022
Source:
WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) Ireland, National Nutrition Surveillance Centre (NNSC), UCD and HSE.
Note:
(i) COSI is run approximately every 3 years.
(ii) The data reported are based on the World Health Organization (WHO) definitions of overweight (including obesity).
Figure 7.5 : Prevalence of overweight including obesity in children aged 7 years old, 2022-2024
Source:
WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) Ireland.
Note:
(i) Data is based on sixth round of COSI, 2022–2024.
(ii) The data reported are based on the World Health Organization (WHO) definitions of overweight (including obesity).
(iii) COSI average estimates were calculated by including only countries with nationally representative data and considering children from only one age group per country.
Bronchiolitis and Asthma
Figure 7.6 : Rate of bronchiolitis admissions among children aged 0–4 years, by sex, 2015–2024
Source:
Healthcare Pricing Office, Hospital In-patient Enquiry (HIPE).
Notes:
(i) Data based on final 'closed' HIPE file for 2015-2024.
(ii) Each HIPE record corresponds to one episode of care. The data includes same‑day and overnight inpatient admissions and excludes all day cases.
(iii) The episodes of admitted patient care relate specifically to cases where the principal diagnosis recorded was the relevant condition.
Figure 7.7 : Rate of asthma admissions among children aged 0–15 years, by sex, 2015–2024
Source:
Healthcare Pricing Office, Hospital In-patient Enquiry (HIPE).
Notes:
(i) Data based on final 'closed' HIPE file for 2015-2024.
(ii) Each HIPE record corresponds to one episode of care. The data includes same‑day and overnight inpatient admissions and excludes all day cases.
(iii) The episodes of admitted patient care relate specifically to cases where the principal diagnosis recorded was the relevant condition.
Chlamydia
Figure 7.8 : Chlamydia infection rate by sex and age-group, 2017-2024
Source:
Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), HSE.
Notes:
(i) This values excludes individuals where age/gender was unknown.
(ii) Male includes cis‑male and trans‑male (where reported), and female includes cis‑female and trans‑female (where reported) for 2022.
(iii) Data for 2018 exclude one male case of unknown age, twenty cases with unknown sex, thirteen cases aged 14 years or younger, and eighty‑three cases aged over 55 years.
Tobacco
Figure 7.9 : Current tobacco smokers, age-group 10-17 years, 1998-2022
Source:
Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC).
Note:
(i) The findings here present the percentage of children who reported smoking tobacco ‘every day’ or ‘at least once a week'.
(ii) The HBSC survey is conducted every four years.
Figure 7.10 : Current smokers by gender and age-group, 1998-2022
Source:
Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC).
Notes:
(i) The findings here present the percentage of children who reported smoking tobacco ‘every day’ or ‘at least once a week'.
(ii) The HBSC survey is conducted every four years.
(iii) For international comparison, HBSC study presents the proportion of young children who reported smoking at least one cigarette in the past 30 days.
Additional material:
(i) The State of the Nation’s Children (SONC) report provides a comprehensive picture of our children's lives. It presents key information on children’s health, behavioural and educational outcomes, and their relationships with their parents and their friends. SONC was first published in 2026 and is updated on an annual basis.
(ii) The Children and Young People’s (CYP) indicator set is a comprehensive collection of indicators relating to the lives of children and young people aged 0–24 years in Ireland. The CYP indicator set aims to track progress across each of the national outcomes outlined in Young Ireland, the national policy framework for children and young people 2023–2028. The first of the national outcomes is that Children and Young People are Active and Healthy.