A report by the National Audit Office showed that in the past years, the pre-obesity, obesity and overweight indicators for children, adolescents and adults registered increasing trends.

The report, presented in Parliament this week, is not a surprise.

It went one step further. In analysing the efficiency of the government’s work to tackle the problem, the NAO said that although there have been efforts, including legislative changes, policy developments and other measures, there are concerns about whether the government is fully aware of the scale of the issue and whether, also, the action taken is sufficient.

Stakeholders have highlighted gaps in funding, human resources and service provision, and issues related to lack of policy coherence, the report said.

In other words, generally speaking we are becoming fatter and the authorities are not doing enough to combat the phenomenon.

In this respect, the NAO suggests a stronger political will to address this problem, making it an “overarching priority across all sectors of government, and for the allocation of appropriate resources and funding, as well as the undertaking of sufficient efforts in this respect”. It also advocated further cooperation across ministries and government entities at the level of policy implementation and service provision.

Just by observing what is going on in our streets, it is clear that we are living a contradiction. The number of people out and about doing exercise – walking fast, jogging or even running – is on the rise. Even a stroll is good as an exercise for people who do not normally move a muscle and lead a predominantly sedentary life.

On the other hand, one cannot but notice that the number of fast food outlets continues to rise. Since our lifestyle has become fast-paced and we have little time to prepare nutritious food, it had become the norm for people to look for prepared food packages which are not the best way of keeping in shape.

Since children formed part of the NAO observations, we must also point out that although many parents are doing their best to take their sons and daughters to activities which “make them move”, today’s children are less inclined to exercise. This is because they have too many distractions which keep them inside playing games on their devices and, secondly, there is little open space for them where they could pass some time running around playing outdoor games. Seeing children playing in the streets is a very rare occurrence these days – it has become highly dangerous because of too many cars and most of the open fields which used to serve as playing ground for children some decades ago are no longer there.

As we all know, obesity is linked to various diseases and premature deaths.

What we should all consider is that the fight against obesity starts with ourselves. Everyone should be more careful in what to eat, and as much as possible find time to exercise.

Secondly, the government should take the NAO’s advice and come up with a stronger effort to educate the people on a better, healthier lifestyle.