So the government has woken up to the fact that we are a nation of (mostly) overweight individuals, waddling from one carbohydrate-binge to the next and washing it all down with the sweet nectar of soft drinks (roughly 12 teaspoons of sugar per bottle).

Faced with the rising costs of obesity-related illnesses and complications, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health Chris Fearne announced that the government is going to get to grips with the fat problem. Apparently this will involve subsidising gym memberships as well as an in-depth survey to try and figure out why we’re turning to timpana at every conceivable opportunity.

The newly No-Negativism-Nationalist Opposition has also realised that it’s better to fight fat than potential voters, and has tabled an anti-obesity Bill proposing some interesting measures. So far so good. Our MPs uniting to fight the flab instead of each other, makes for welcome news. And the fact that so many of us are over-eating our way to cholesterol-clogged arteries and ill-health is definitely a cause for concern.

But I wonder what chances of success this latest anti-obesity drive will have. We’ve been here before in 2012 when the then PN government launched its ‘Eat right, stay healthy’ campaign. And there have been sporadic pro-fitness initiatives along the years. Now we couldn’t expect to turn into dead ringers for Belen Rodriguez and Andrea Pirlo by dint of these government interventions, but there’s no sign that these campaigns have left any mark on our waistline. In fact we’ve got worse.

The thing about anti-obesity drives is that they’ve got to be holistic, which basically means that all aspects of the over-eating problem have to be tackled. There has to be a huge outlay on an educational campaign which drives home the point that home-cooked, minimally processed food is best, and that doesn’t include bunging nuggets in the microwave. People have to be encouraged to eat more vegetables and to cool it with the salt cellar. You’d have to persuade people to put down their iPads for half an hour every now and again and take up some form of exercise which doesn’t involve swiping their fingers across a screen.

If our politicians are really intent on doing something about obesity they’re going to have to tackle the food industry head-on

There would have to be suitable places for people to exercise at different times, as being a gym bunny is not for everyone. Most importantly, a healthy eating mentality would have to be instilled in young children who think that chicken comes solely in nugget-shaped morsels and that chips are the only vegetables.

All these aspects have to be addressed in tandem. It’s useless having these one-off campaigns where government prints leaflets with colourful broccoli and carrot characters and expects us to turn into permanent zumba fanatics.

Admittedly, we can’t have a nanny State which decides what we can or cannot eat but it’s equally true that people can’t fight the fat wars alone. Where are people going to exercise if the great Maltese outdoors consists mainly in traffic-congested localities and countryside strewn with ODZ villas, hunters’ hideouts and litter?

Where is the emphasis on healthy eating if permits for junk food franchises are being issued by the dozen? Why isn’t the government regulating the advertising and promotion of fast food to children? While it is true that our health ultimately depends on our individual choices, children do not have sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice. They are far more impressionable than adults – a fact which the fast food industry is aware of. That is why it specifically targets them with branding, celebrity endorsements and toy and product placement.

In its study entitled ‘Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity’, the American Institute of Medicine states that food marketing: “intentionally targets children who are too young to distinguish advertising from truth and induces them to eat high-calorie, low-nutrient (but highly profitable) junk foods”, and succeed so well that children become programmed to believe these foods are good choices.

Those tubby children who grew up believing in the bounty of the greasy, fast food burger joint are hardly going to grow up to be lean, mean mange-tout snacking adults, are they?

So if our politicians are really intent on doing something about obesity they’re going to have to tackle the food industry head-on and not faff around with half-hearted initiatives. Otherwise we’re going to continue losing the fat wars.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt