Campaign urges behaviour change for weight loss
The health authorities are calling on people to change their behaviour in a bid to tackle obesity.
"We want to see more people eating healthily and exercising more," Charmaine Gauci, head of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department, said.
A 30-second advert, being aired on television stations, urges people to be motivated into a behavioural change.
"We want to urge adults who are already obese to take action to lose weight while others should do their utmost to prevent becoming obese," Dr Gauci said.
The health authorities have long been urging people to change their lifestyle but shocking figures released earlier this year showed that more than a fifth of the Maltese population is obese.
Obesity is a slightly higher problem among men than women, according to figures from the health interview survey, carried out last year. Although the percentage of obese people had gone down by 1.3 per cent since the survey was carried out in 2002, it is still considered a problem.
Parents needed to lead by example and help children who were overweight to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle, Dr Gauci said.
The Health Behaviour in School Aged Children study, carried out in 2006, indicated that 28 per cent of 11-year-olds and 31 per cent of 13 year-olds were overweight.
"Children are our future adults and we need to take good care of them, teach them how to prevent obesity so that we have a healthy and informed society," Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar said.
Dr Cassar stressed that obesity was the primary cause of a number of cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks, stroke and high blood pressure. Moreover, it contributed to diabetes, which was also common in Malta, and, together with high cholesterol and high blood pressure, was a risk factor for heart disease, the highest cause of deaths in Malta. He said the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department was planning to work with schools to teach children about a nutritious diet.
2 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Carlo Mifsud
Nov 6th 2009, 12:24
No easy solution? Why dont we start with changing habits in schools? My daughters attend a church school. They start at 7.55 and finish at 1.25pm with a 15 minute break! And (wait for it) we were told that once a week they get 20 minutes break. Why not force schools to have a minimum of 1 hr break and have them organise games during breaks? They also have tuck shops providing pizzas and cheese cakes. Is that healthy?
DR JOSEPH MIZZI
Nov 5th 2009, 23:00
Maltese children rank among the most obese in the world. Obesity is a serious problem -- it causes untold psychological stress during childhood, and since most obese children grow to become obese adults, it also poses a serious health risk later on in life (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, and many different forms of cancer). No easy solutions. BUT OBESITY CAN BE OVERCOME BY CHANGING THE LIFESTYLE. Help is available to parents who are determined to change the lifestyle of their family. Please visit the website of the Maltese Paediatric Association www.paediatricsmalta.org