The educational programme will be run throughout the year and the main emphasis will be placed on the importance of a healthy breakfast and physical exercise. It will consist of a weekly extra-curricular activity for the students, and also a series of lectures open to parents and the general public from the neighbouring villages.

The programme was designed in collaboration with the Health Promotion Department and the Youth Services Organisation. In fact, the project will be used as a pilot that may be replicated in other schools.

The idea for the project came when the teachers observed that a number of students had problems with obesity and that in general, students displayed bad nutritional habits. Several students skip their breakfast because they leave home early in the morning to catch the bus for school, while others prefer not to eat anything before 10am, during the first lunch break, Ms Sammut explained.

The programme’s emphasis is definitively well placed as an unhealthy diet is proven to be one of the leading causes of cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, World Health Federation research shows that unhealthy lifestyles are adopted at an early age. Moreover, according to a WHO behaviour survey carried out among children by the Health Promotion Department in 2002, Maltese 13-year-olds are among the most obese in the world.

The project was taken up by the Youth Services Organisation to commemorate World Heart Day, celebrated on 26 September, at the joint initiative of the World Health Organisation and Unesco. This year’s theme is A heart for life and is aimed specifically at youth and children. It also coincides with a number of initiatives taking place throughout Europe, where obesity is given priority. For more

information, the Health Promotion Department can be contacted on 2123-1247 or 2124-2862. Alternatively, the website http://www.health.gov.mt is available.