Tackling child obesity

Lately we have been reading a lot about child obesity, following a survey held in some schools. What I cannot understand is this: Even though Malta has a very high rate of child obesity, there are no facilities, as far as I am aware, to help parents tackle this problem.

I am sure the government can come up with some solutions to make access easier and cheaper to certain facilities.

For example, in the UK, at the local swimming pool, one can pay for an hour's entrance to the pool. Upon entrance, a coloured wrist band is given to the swimmer depending on the hour of the day. After the hour is up, all swimmers with the band of that particular colour are asked to leave the water. The lifeguards on duty are there to ensure that this system is kept, obviously as well as ensuring the safety of all swimmers.

Can't the government come up with such a system for the national pool?

As it is one has to either pay for seasonal membership, or daily membership. When I last visited in April, the cost of a day's membership was about €18 for one adult and one child.

Within 45 minutes we left the pool as we were not there to spend the day, we only went for some exercise.

Another option would be gyms where children are allowed.

I am sure leading private firms in Malta can afford to set up a gym which is suitable for children; they would soon get their money back as there are many parents who would use such facilities.