Clara man set for television screens as part of "The Obesity Clinic"

Clara man John Maher will be on television screens next Monday night as part of a new two-part observational documentary that goes inside Ireland's first public weight management clinic in St Columcille's Hospital in Dublin. "The Obesity Clinic" will be screened on RTE One at 9.35pm next Monday, November 12. Filmed over ten months, "The Obesity Clinic" sees eight individuals share the truth about their struggle to lose weight. John is bed bound and has been on the waiting list for a gastric bypass for the past two years. Money is a problem for John and his wife Siobhan, but the programme shows how humour keeps the couple and their children going in tough times. Other participants include Sven, who is admitted full time to hospital as his weight reaches 46 stone, Wexford mum of three Lavinia McNeill and fellow Wexford man Philip O'Brien who is also waiting on gastric bypass surgery. Participants attending the weight management clinic get twelve sessions with a dietician, physiotherapist and psychologist. With no tricks or quick fixes available, staff urge patients to eat healthily and walk every day. The message is simple, but as the programme shows the execution is hard. "The Obesity Clinic" looks at how as a society we have put on weight over the past 30 years and how now is the time to tackle the issue. Founder of the weight management clinic Professor Donal O'Shea said he's sick of hearing about the problem being "a ticking time bomb". "The bomb has exploded and we are working at the bomb site," he said.