Health Shadow Minister Claudio Grech suggested that in places where young people and children gathered, there should be restrictions on food which contained excessive sugar, salt and fats.
It did not make sense to have mobile kiosks which sold unhealthy food in the vicinity of schools.
He was speaking in the second reading of the Healthy Lifestyle (Reducing Obesity) Bill, a private member’s Bill moved by Opposition MP Robert Cutajar. The Bill sets out to establish an inter-ministerial lifelong approach favouring physical education and healthy balanced diets for a lifestyle that reduces the level of obesity in all age groups.
Mr Grech said it was also unacceptable that in the hospital one found food for sale which was not nutritious at all. There had to be fiscal incentives for caterers to introduce healthier food.
It was true that junk food cost less than healthy food to produce, but the government had an obligation to facilitate the sale of healthier food. More education was needed to promote a healthier eating culture in schools.
Frameworks needed to be set up so that those who truly wanted to safeguard their health could be financially assisted to join gyms and clubs. The Bill was addressing the health of the nation, he said.
While life expectancy was good, there were still certain prevailing factors that contributed towards serious health problems. These chronic conditions were also burdening the health infrastructure. The escalating rate of diabetes Type I was worrying, as was the alarming rate of obesity.
Obesity was not just an aesthetic consideration but had grave implications for the health sector. The cure for these patients was often avoidable if they had opted for a healthy lifestyle. Every time someone was being treated for something which was avoidable, that placed an unnecessary burden on our clinics and hospitals. These demographic trends led to even more waiting lists for our medical staff and facilities.
Mr Grech said he was not advocating the practice implemented in the UK, where those who continued smoking, for example, were placed at the end of the hospital waiting list. However, certain preventive measures needed to be taken.
He praised the government’s newly published policy on nutrition, but legislation was now required. This was an enabling law which would introduce obligations such as taxation on certain types of food.
However, he cautioned that care needed to be taken so as not to push people into poverty.
Deo Debattista (PL) said subsidies for healthy food should be considered. “Eating healthy was also eating wealthy”, which could be challenging for families of a certain social standing.
Speaking on the Healthy Lifestyle (Reducing Obesity) Bill, Dr Debattista said one should consider EU funding to subsidise healthy food.
This tied in with the controversy of having tuck shops in schools or in the vicinity. He said if the food sold by the tuck shop was cheaper for students to buy when compared to healthier food, then moving tuck shops away from school was still not going to stop students buying from them. Therefore, there was a huge need for educational campaigns.
Addiction to food was genetic and one learned to acquire the taste of good sugary food from a young age. This generally is the unhealthiest.
Dieticians and nutritionists should also exist within the educational system. These would be able to pinpoint children with problems and help them change their lifestyles.
One could also consider launching a similar project to that of Denmark, whereby nutritionists would be able to check the body mass index (BMI) of all students, and if need be a psychologist would be called to offer help to obese children. It was common knowledge that there were underlying reasons why children overate, he said.
Concluding, he said graphics should be used in food products which could lead to obesity, such as the ones used on cigarettes packets.