Introducing taxes on unhealthy foods may be premature, but it may be time to restrict kiosks from selling it in the vicinity of places frequented by the young and sports centres, according to the opposition's health spokesman Claudio Grech.

Mr Grech was speaking during debate on the Healthy Lifestyles (Reducing Obesity) Bill, a private member's bill presented by opposition MPs Robert Cutajar and Mario de Marco.

The MP said that his colleague's bill was an enabling law, which allowed the government to propose subsidiary legislation which would introduce obligations related to healthy living. He insisted that these would not necessarily be negative obligations - punitive measures - but also positive ones.

Mr Grech observed that taxing unhealthy food has been discussed - and even tried - in various countries across the world, but he said that he did not believe that such measures were the most effective method. He noted that while such initiatives were introduced with the best of intentions, they could create new injustices, including driving people closer to poverty.

However, he said that restrictions on the sale of such products - including bans on selling them in the vicinity of schools, places frequented by young people and sport centres - were an option. He said that it made no sense to allow outlets to sell foods with excessive fat or sugar content in the vicinity of schools, with the specific intention of enticing children to consume them, particularly since Malta's child obesity figures were "shameful."

Mr Grech noted that it was a state of fact that junk food was more accessible, and that a diet based on healthy food was generally more expensive, but once more insisted that it may be too premature to implement punitive measures to redress this balance.

However, he noted that fiscal incentives could be provided to those who were ready to invest to provide healthy food.

Government MP Deborah Schembri also agreed with restricting the sale of unhealthy food outside school, drawing on her own personal experience. She noted that every time her nine-year-old son finished school, he found a donut vendor waiting, and it was a constant struggle to refuse to allow him to buy any to ensure that he does not form an unhealthy habit.

Dr Schembri said that she wished that such a law was passed some three decades ago, stating that she might not have faced her own struggles with obesity if it did. She pointed out that when she was in school, healthy living was never discussed and physical exercise was given the least importance, but noted that things had improved when it came to her son.

The MP also noted that obesity was not simply a matter of physical health, but created other complications, including bullying at schools. She said that a vicious cycle could be created as children suffering from depression as a result of bullying may turn to comfort eating.

Former health minister Godfrey Farrugia also noted that cheap unhealthy food was a common choice for low-income households, although he pointed out that obesity rates were also significant in households with higher incomes.

In his intervention, Dr Farrugia insisted that the time had come for a culture change in Malta, stating that people had grown used to a fast pace of life, to finding ready-made food.

He noted that the lives of schoolchildren often included little to no physical activity, noting that this was vastly different to his childhood, when children had longer school breaks and were encouraged to play. He noted that these long breaks were stopped due to opposition from children, but increasing obesity was one of the results.

As he moved on to discussing the food provided from canteens, Dr Farrugia recalled that when he was Health Minister, he had sought to ensure that healthier food was being provided at Mater Dei Hospital, only to find himself unable to act because of an existing contract. He expressed his hope that when the present contract expires, the government would oblige the canteen operator to provide healthy food to customers.

Moving back to discussing schools, he noted that Japan had acted after its children were found to have the highest obesity rates in the region, and that in just seven years, the country registered the lowest obesity rate among schoolchildren. Their efforts included appropriate lessons, including the preparation of healthy food by teachres.

Dr Farrugia then insisted that physical education should be a compulsory, failing subject, and noted that initiatives organised at schools such as "hot dog day" should be replaced with healthier initiatives such as hikes and picnics with healthy food.

But in his own intervention, opposition MP Ċensu Galea questioned whether turning physical subject into a compulsory failing subject was wise, noting that doing the same with the Arabic language proved to be counterproductive.

Mr Galea, a former president of Sirens FC, also lamented how families often made their children stop attending football nurseries in years where they faced important tests.