A Maltese man convicted of spying on the female sports team he coached has not been named by court order. I am aware that there may be very good reasons for this – among which is the prevention of further discomfiture and embarrassment to the women he spied upon.
Unfortunately (and unfairly) the naming of the perpetrator in such cases sometimes leads to the victims feeling that they will be forever associated with him.
There’s also the man’s family to consider – his job termination will have a terrible effect on their circumstances. However, the non-disclosure of his name has led to suspicion being unfairly cast upon all sports coaches in the same age group and residing in the same locality. An uncomfortable situation all round.
■ Malta has topped the obesity scales again. Surprise, surprise. Yet another study telling us what all the other studies have been saying for the last 10 years or so – that we’ve become a nation of fatties waddling our way to an unhealthy future crippled with diabetes, cholesterol-clogged arteries and high-blood pressure.
The results of the European Health Interview survey show that one in four adults in Malta (26 per cent) is considered obese. Other surveys show that we are also the laziest and most car-dependent.
So far, so predictable. As far back as 2007, scientific journals were documenting our rise in size. Back then data drawn from the 34 (primarily European) participating countries of the 2001–2002 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study, the two countries with the highest prevalence of overweight (preobese + obese) and obese youth were Malta (25.4 per cent and 7.9 per cent) and the United States (25.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent).
So these anguished cries about what we’re going to do about it have been background noise for all these years.
It’s not that our health ministers have been forcing pastizzi and pizza down our throats, but successive administrations have made it extremely difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle
Now, I really hold with personal responsibility and that it’s useless blaming external factors for thunder thighs or beer bellies. If you want to lose weight, lay off the cookie jar and exercise more, I’d say. It’s not the Minister of Health’s fault that you were gorging on lasagne instead of lettuce. And chips may be cheap, but so is a steaming bowl of vegetables, so you can’t really put the blame for expensive health food at Edward Scicluna’s door.
So I’m not one to blame government for all our self-inflicted ills. However, in this case, our governments – present and previous – are partly to blame. That’s because their policies and decisions over the years have created an obesogenic environment. Basically an obesogenic environment is one that encourages people to eat unhealthily and not do enough exercise.
Now it’s not that our health ministers have been forcing pastizzi and pizza down our throats, but successive administrations have made it extremely difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle in Malta. Most of the policies supported by Maltese governments actively promote unhealthy lifestyles and pose obstacles to a leaner set-up.
For example, one of the main char-acteristics of an obesogenic environment is that it encourages car use instead of walking or non-motor transport. This is spectacularly in evidence in Malta.
Governments have consistently and deliberately ignored the fact that their laissez-faire planning policies (which can be neatly summarised as ‘Build whatever, wherever’) has led to hodgepodge construction which is not only aesthetically offensive but which makes it practically impossible to walk or cycle for relatively long distances comfortably.
Pavements and promenades are no longer the domain of pedestrians but of street furniture set up by the zillion kiosks dotting our streetscape and polluting the air with their junk food grease. It’s worse if you’re trying to manoeuvre a wheelchair or a buggy – the pavements are uneven and have been taken over by garage owners who have engineered a series of ramps resulting in concrete troughs and ankle trippers.
The roads are not any better, with cycle lanes stopping abruptly on busy bypasses – or not being there at all.
Then there’s the food. It’s everywhere. The government has given the go-ahead for takeaways, kiosks and food outlets to establish themselves in every conceivable location. There is practically no public space or square which does not have its own food outlet. And they’re not selling salads and greens.
Now it’s a free world and everybody can choose to set up shop with whichever wares he pleases and see how the market responds. But by encouraging a monoculture of fast food businesses, the government can’t be too shocked with rising obesity rates and the attendant health care crisis and costs.
drcbonello@gmail.com