The Healthy Eating Lifestyle Plan was launched to be distributed to all schools, aiming ultimately to beat obesity, where Malta is among the leaders in Europe.

The HELP document will urge and assist schools in drawing up and implementing food-related programmes to encourage healthy eating for a better life.

The three aspects HELP deals with are the school environment, the school curriculum, and the kind of food that enters schools.

The wrong kind of eating, a task force found last year, harms teeth, causes weight gain, diabetes, development problems, and other diseases. A World Health Organisation report also found that Maltese children are among the most obese, as reflected in the highest rate of deaths in Malta, caused by heart-related problems, and 10 per cent of the Maltese suffering from diabetes.

The HELP document carries information about health and the importance of a balanced diet.