Children attending Avventura Sajf 2013 at the Maria Regina Primary School, Mellieha, did not really appreciate the weather this morning as a few minutes before their much anticipated games were about to start, it started raining cats and dogs.
Luckily organisers had a plan B although everything was shifted to inside and the programme was somewhat delayed.
Addressing the activity ‘Fit for the Future’, organised by the Malta Association of Physiotherapists, Kunsill Malti ghall- iSport, the Mellieha Local Council, the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Unit and the Mellieha Primary school this morning, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo emphasized the need for physical activity.
He noted that only a quarter of kids do the required activity daily and the rest spend three to four hours a day sitting at a computer or watching television. Lack of exercise, coupled with lack of healthy food, this compounds problems.
Physical activity is much needed all year round, he said, while explaining that doctors are noticing problems in children at the age of 12 including heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, which are usually diagnosed in people over 50. All these health issues have to do with lifestyles and food.
Parents and educators must therefore work together to fight the problem.
“Schools are part of the problem,” he said in auto-criticism, “But they must become part of the solution”.
Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Buontempo, responsible for Youth and Sport, said we must work on creating a conscience on sports for a physically and mentally healthy society.
Matthew Azzopardi, president of the Malta Association of Physiotherapists explained the important role of physiotherapists in prescribing physical activity as part of the prevention and management of obesity in children.
The activity was held ahead of World Physiotherapy Day, marked on 8 September – an opportunity to raise awareness on physiotherapy. This year, the association focused on targeting physical education in a family context. In fact, some 150 children and parents participated.
Besides the games, talks and classes were held for parents.