Easter Sunday is hardly the right time to be telling people about restraint when it comes to overindulgence, on chocolate in particular, so have a Happy Easter but, come Monday, overweight people really should be thinking about their health.

We are always reading, or being told, about the health risks of obesity and smoking, so we cannot complain that we are living in ignorance, but despite the warnings, people still smoke, overeat and binge on alcohol – another health hazard. In addition, many of us don’t move, when exercise is essential to keep us well.

Whenever I read or hear about obesity, smoking and couch potatoes, I picture British comedians Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke as Wayne and Waynetta Slob – very fat, chain smokers always eating pizza in front of the telly.

Laughter, it is said, is the best medicine and de-stressor, which is maybe why whenever I hear depressing news, about the risks people take with their health, my mind wanders to those hilarious sketches.

It does depress me when I see young people huddled outside a cafe or a bar puffing away, or watch overweight people guzzling fatty foods.

I am not basing the following on local statistics – they are neither easy to get hold of nor decipher – but my hunch is that it is the Waynes and Waynettas of this world, ie the uneducated, most of the time on benefits, that are most prone to the risks associated with overeating, fast food, chain smoking and inactivity.

On Tuesday, as I listened to professionals and the Minister of Health going on about how important it is to look after our health at a Healthy Living seminar, marking the launch of a Middlesea Valletta Life campaign, I could not help but think that – apart from the smoking – they were preaching to the converted.

Like domestic violence, smoking crosses the class divide. My generation did not have so many warnings about the dangers of smoking when it was growing up. Governments had been too slow to react to World Health Organisation warnings and too accommodating to the tobacco lobbyists.

Having gone through various stages of smoking, I do understand that it is not always easy for some people to give up the dreadful weed.

I smoked cigarettes until I became pregnant and started again many years later, when I had a particularly stressful job. However, we had kept the rule of a non-smoking household, so I kept my packet of 10 cancer sticks in my office desk.

When I moved back to Malta, one of the things that had annoyed me was that you could not get cigarettes in packets of 10. I had welcomed the non-smoking rule in the office and gradually weaned myself off them altogether.

Campaigns are launched periodically to raise awareness on health hazards and for a long while now we have had advice on the risks hurled at us from various media and a warning is even printed on every cigarette packet.

Yet, the 302 smoking-related deaths per year in Malta, per 100,000 of the population, are above the EU average of 229.

People are generally vain, yet they carry on smoking and roasting in the sun when they – especially the women – know their skin will shrivel before its time. And worse – the risks of cancer are more than just cosmetic.

“We want to raise awareness on the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle by identifying unhealthy habits for early management, thereby preventing serious and debilitating illnesses in later years,” said MVL chief executive officer David Curmi.

“By aiming to promote the importance of a healthy lifestyle, this campaign is tackling a national issue and is a first of its nature, due to the fact that it is being privately funded by Middlesea Valletta Life, he said.

“MVL is the depositary of a wealth of medical information it has gathered over the past 28 years and for the first time the company is sharing its data and experience with the public,” he added.

Minister Joe Cassar stressed the need for regular blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose checks, screening and exercise, and spoke about the dangers of smoking and binge drinking.

I waylaid him as he left, after Dr Charmaine Gauci, director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention had given her presentation, and asked him whether people could be regularly tested for blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose at Health Centres.

He told me that he believed so, but would check and get back to me.

I received an email the next day saying: “Cholesterol profile can be checked at Health Centres. There are rules of how frequently this can be done. Moreover, past tests can be seen on line at HCs.”

While it was interesting to know that one can check past tests on line, I am still waiting for my follow-up question: “So what are the rules on how frequently they can be done? And what about blood pressure and glucose checks?”

It is all very well telling people to go for regular check-ups, but it is not going to help the long waiting times in both health centres and doctors’ surgeries. Some people cannot afford to wait and others cannot afford to pay for the tests. Maybe this will improve with the health reforms.

The more I listened to the Minister’s speech, the more I realised that really a seminar on healthy living needed to have most of the Cabinet there in order to tackle the issue.

I could ask the Health Minister about how the overstretched health centres would cope with everyone turning up for regular tests and how Mater Dei would cope with everyone clamouring for screening?

But had the Finance Minister been there he could have been quizzed on how healthy living for the whole nation was sustainable. The Environment Minister could have been questioned on what is being done to tackle air and noise pollution, whether there are any Mepa plans to start keeping commercial activity away from residential areas and limiting overdevelopment.

The Minister in charge of Transport and Roads could have told us what is being done to divert heavy traffic away from residential areas and how many more bicycle lanes are planned to encourage people to cycle.

The Minister responsible for small businesses could have explained how the mushrooming of greasy pastizzi and pizza outlets on street corners, and kiosks dotted along most promenades, is helping the Maltese population adopt a healthy lifestyle.

The Home Affairs Minister could have told us what is being done about enforcement of the smoking ban in some public places. And last but not least, the Education Minister could have updated us on what our educational institutions are offering by way of getting our youngsters moving, since sporting activities have been reduced in schools.

Dr Gauci confirmed what most of us present already knew, that it is cardiovascular diseases and cancer that is killing many people. Obesity, she said, increases the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, gall bladder disease and a number of cancers. So, of course, do smoking and drinking too much alcohol.

Prevention has been bandied about for a long while now.

Continues on page 20

Many of us know, or should know, what we need to do to minimise the risk of serious illnesses: stop smoking, limit alcohol intake, eat more fruit and vegetables and exercise, and, of course get regular check-ups.

What is needed is for health to become a community effort to ensure that the message not only reaches everyone but also has a tangible impact.

In response to some of my queries, Dr Gauci said that an inter-sectorial committee involving urban planning, education, broadcasting and catering has been set up to work on these issues and that a campaign to tackle obesity is planned to be launched in May.

Middlesea’s Chartered Insurer Chief Life Underwriter Mark Camilleri and Chartered Insurer Executive Head, Benefits Unit Denise Bezzina, together with Da Vinci Hospital Director Pierre Vassallo, also spoke at the seminar.

The Middlesea Valletta Life campaign is doing its bit by holding the seminar and offering discounts on medical screening packages, designed jointly with the Da Vinci Hospital and targeted to provide quality medical care, early disease detection and health education and promotion. It is also offering three packages with preferential terms aimed at promoting medical screening, fitness and nutrition.

For information on the packages call 2122 6411 or email [email protected].

It is not only reputable, well-known companies that are promoting healthy lifestyles. The other day I got a postcard through my letterbox offering a free “easy 12 lessons” based on a healthy lifestyle for the whole family.

It did not give any information about who is organising this, other than “Health Correspondence Course” at a c/o address in Marsaxlokk, so I hope they are giving out the right information and it isn’t a scam.

Scams are not what are needed as part of the community effort.

[email protected]