Irish children consumed at least five million Easter eggs over the Easter holidays, according to a recent poll.

That amounts to 460 tonnes of sugar.

The poll, which was carried out on behalf of the Irish Heart Foundation, found that children in Ireland were expected to receive an average of four eggs each over Easter, with almost one in five receiving six or more.

One medium-sized egg contains 23 teaspoons of sugar - almost four times the recommended daily intake for a child.

Janis Morrissey, head of health promotion with the foundation, said that while nobody is saying children should not eat Easter eggs, ‘the problem is overconsumption' that is largely being driven by excessive marketing and promotions aimed at children.

"This is not a ‘bah humbug' or spoilsport approach. Children's health is being unnecessarily compromised by companies whose sole objective is to get them to consume as much chocolate as possible.

"And its important that we don't view these marketing tactics in isolation. Easter Sunday was just another day in the incessant bombardment of children with slick junk food advertising that has distorted the notion of what a healthy diet should be," Ms Morrissey commented.

She noted that ‘all of this is happening in the midst of a child obesity crisis'.

"Children as young as eight are presenting with high blood pressure and young people are showing early signs of heart disease once only seen in middle-aged men," she pointed out.

In recent weeks, doctors at Temple Street Children's Hospital in Dublin warned that almost half of children presenting to its specialist weight management service already had risk factors for heart disease.

The poll found that three-quarters of parents felt that discounts on Easter eggs encouraged people to buy more than usual, while seven in 10 felt that eggs should not be stocked in shops until closer to Easter.

Meanwhile, Ms Morrissey said that ‘as we predicted', the Government's new voluntary code did nothing to limit the ‘gross irresponsibility of marketing ploys by a multinational industry, whose sole purpose is to ensure that children eat as much of their unhealthy products as possible regardless of the short and long-term effects on their health'.

The foundation is continuing to campaign for regulations to prevent all junk food marketing directed at children. Its Stop Targeting Kids campaign is calling on the Government to regulate digital marketing aimed at Irish children and to close loopholes in broadcast restrictions, which mean that children still see over 1,000 ads for junk food and drinks on television every year.

For more information on this campaign, click here