I chanced upon a statistic last week that got me thinking. Apparently, we have quite a thriving cosmetic surgery scene in Malta. It would seem that quite a healthy number of our socially active populace are sporting a wide range of physical enhancements to the face and body. A whole host of treatments and interventions offered by an increasing number of clinics across the country are being welcomed with open arms and our wholehearted custom.

If you were expecting some form of judgement from my part about this fact, I have none, well not just yet anyway. It is perfectly fair that we care about what we look like. We are a people who value aesthetics. We want to look good and we appreciate others looking good too. Surgery is one way to go, just as many other options on the market appeal to us in our constant endeavours to aesthetically please ourselves and each other.

Physical attraction is after all, a vital part of human survival and evolution, of value few could reasonably disregard. Charles Darwin said it best when he postulated his theory of “natural selection”. It would seem therefore that caring about selection is an ingrained characteristic of our very being.

We do not need statistics to notice the similar popularity of hair and beauty treatments on the islands. A quick drive through our towns and cities quickly reveals the obviously high incidence of hair, beauty and nail salons. I am sure it is a brutally competitive business for the hairdressers, therapists and nail technicians themselves. However, the sheer demand means that the cake is big enough for a high number of businesses to be operating at any given time. There is a market in Malta for beauty, and a big one at that.

Clothes represent another of our aesthetically motivated interests. We seem to follow a variety of fashion trends here in Malta, be they continental or from across the Atlantic, but whatever the trend, it is clear we like nice clothes, whatever our interpretation of nice may be. Our major shopping centres thrive with a steady flow of foot traffic Monday through Sunday.

So where am I going with all this you may wonder? Well, if we’re going to talk about statistics or evident trends, I cannot help but think of a couple more crucial figures. We love looking good and you could say we are a relatively vain nation, but then why do we fare so poorly in inter-nation obesity and inactivity rankings?

To put it bluntly, we remain among the fattest and laziest people in Europe. Could it really be that a majority of people in Malta do not care about the way they look and the local industry of aesthetic enhancement is fuelled by an extremely vain minority?

Somehow, this seems unlikely. Could it instead mean that most of us care about the way we look, but only as long as looking good means we do not have to engage in any physical activity?

We remain among the fattest and laziest people in Europe

That sounds a little more like it. So perhaps we fitness professionals continue to package it all wrong. The fitness industry in Malta remains well under European averages in terms of size and value, so it would seem we, as a people, still do not see exercise as a means of looking and feeling better. If we stack cosmetic surgery, fashion, beauty, hair and exercise side by side, it seems we are still having difficulty seeing exercise as a viable option.

Maybe we feel it is too much of a risk? Maybe we are afraid of putting in all the effort only for it not to ‘work’. Maybe we feel that our specific problems cannot be fixed by exercise and require other fixes.

These are understandable fears, but often unfounded. With the combination of effort and a good training programme, exercise always ‘works’. As far as specific problems go, speak to a professional and you will be surprised what you might be able to achieve.

Beginning a basic exercise programme, whether it is in a gym or not, helps us easily surpass European guidelines on minimum recommended physical activity.

One thing we now know as a result of an evergrowing body of exercise science research is that it really is easier than we thought. Just walking a little more throughout the day and working out two to three times per week performing some form of resistance training will make a big difference.

You get more from exercise than just a better-looking body, but if that is what it takes to recruit the masses into a healthier lifestyle, then we could easily just focus on the aesthetic part.

By combining exercise with a healthy eating plan, you can drop fat and keep it off, permanently. By engaging in resistance training, you can target and tone specific muscle groups, influencing the overall shape of your body. You can scratch years off your age and look even better wearing those new clothes or hairstyles.

Perhaps best of all for the socially active, exercise itself is a social activity. Joining a gym puts you in direct contact with a new community of like-minded people from all walks of life. So for a complete and lasting physical, psychological and social make-over, start stacking exercise up against your other options without prejudice, and you will be more than glad you did.

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt