Superintendent of Public Health Ray Busuttil yesterday announced some news that should make all of us cringe. We are amongst the fattest people in Europe and it’s very evident that we must do something about it before it becomes an epidemic.
In places such as the UK (where obesity rates are similar to ours), there is already talk of changing the system to one of palliative care for the chronically obese. Yet, we have one final chance to change things.
The prognosis is not good. Dr Busuttil explained that we have the highest percentage of obese and overweight 15-year-olds and the overall highest figure for males in Europe.
Meanwhile, we have the second highest percentage of obese 11-year-olds and 13-year-olds, and the third highest rates of obesity in women. The trend, he said, shows that the problem is growing.
The figures are truly worrying. A total of 22% of the adult population has reported being obese and another 36% said they were overweight. This means that a staggering 58% of the total population in Malta is overweight or obese.
The Health Department said that a drastic attempt to reduce the amount of people who are overweight must be made. While we might all be hanging our heads in shame at this news, we must also admit that we do over eat, eat the wrong foods and do not get enough exercise. The fact that we are, by nature, quite short and prone to putting on weight anyway, makes it an even bigger problem.
If anyone doubts that this problem exists, just go to the beach in summer and you can get a fair picture of just how many people do battle with this disease.
Obesity is known to cause 80% of diabetes, 55% of hypertension and 35% of heart disease. In addition, obese persons need more frequent and longer hospital stays, and more visits to GPs and consultants.
The economic impact of obesity is also high and if things stay as they are, the public health expenditure is expected to go up from €20 million in 2008 to €27 million by 2020.
As pointed out in a report on obesity, it is clear that access to healthy food is very important. As a result, policy makers are considering the introduction of sin taxes to discourage people from opting for certain items and focus the revenue on tax incentives and a subsidy policy, to encourage healthy eating and physical activity. This has already happened in some Nordic countries and the results are positive. Local studies have shown that eating patterns are not good and the consumption of fish is low. In addition, 70% of the population eats meat and rabbit once or twice a week but 15% of the population eats processed meats every day. Half the population eats fried potatoes once a week. A total of 20% have sugary soft drinks on a daily basis and only 50% have fruit and vegetables daily. If we do not change our ways, we will end up with obesity overtaking cigarettes as a killer.