“The study identified 69.75% (95% CI: 68.32–71.18) of the Maltese population to be either overweight or obese. The men overweight/obese prevalence (76.28% 95% CI: 74.41–78.14) was statistically higher than that for women (63.06% 95% CI: 60.92–65.20) (p = 0.0001).”

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5192534/

What is behind such obesity prevalence in Malta? Aren’t Maltese people supposed to be the epitome of health thanks to the Mediterranean climate, sea, cleaner air, healthier diet (e.g., fresh seafood) and etc? Is this because of a sedentary lifestyle and fast food?

20 comments

  4. Pretty easy to brake it down:

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    1. Maltese don’t walk anywhere
    2. Many like to eat out or order take out weekly
    3. Maltese eat too much, portion sizes are large.
    4. There is a fast food restaurant on nearly every corner
    5. The art of cooking at home is being lost
    6. Many think the Mediterranean diet is Pasta
    7. There is no environment to encourage exercise

  8. You can’t out-exercise a bad diet. And most don’t even try to 😂 eating out/takeaway is a massive cultural thing, as is eating large amounts of pasta/bread/sweets etc and not enough veg and lean protein. Also I’ve tried walking to work but with a backpack and all the hills, in anything above 15 degrees I’m a sweaty mess so it’s unfeasible. Plus it’s not fun to inhale car fumes all the way there. I lived abroad and walked the same distance to work and back daily and rarely broke a sweat, that made it easier to exercise. Exercising indoors takes effort and most ppl couldn’t be bothered/don’t think it’s necessary.

  11. Just wait and see how the health system will collapse in the following years with this rates of obesity. However, the solution would be very simple: letting people to walk/cycling more by limiting the use of cars. But it will never happen because car is king

  13. I definitely think weve gotten very comfortable with our cars. But I dont think people realise why other countries can and do walk so much.

    For one, most people live in a city as big as Malta- we live in towns. If anyone tried to walk from the outskirts of london to any other city, they wouldnt find the infrastructure. Towns/Cities are walkable, but from one town to another its not. But because Malta is so small, many needs have to be met in another town, which no one, abroad or in Malta, typically walks from. When we dont put into perspective our unique situation, the argument immediately falls flat.

    Another major hurdle is the heat. The obvious rebuttal is that its hot for 3/4 months of the year. However, those months are so significant that we usually have a situation where we are home car event car home with no walking, from one aircondition to another. A habit requires constant reinforcement, and when youre constantly stopping this habit, its difficult to develop it at all.

    A big problem is our natural enviroment in comparison to the rest of Europe. Anyone whos travelled through multiple countries through Europe will immediately notice the difference. Western and Central Europe are extremely flat areas. You can walk through London, Paris, and never encounter a single hill. Meanwhile in Malta, walking is like a rollercoaster, with each area being either a hill, or a valley. Its one thing to walk downhill, but walking up steep inclines with this heat is an extraordinary effort.

    Obviously, we like our unhealthy food (but I dont think this is unique to Malta), and we have a little obsession with having some meat on our bones- personally, I think this links to the insane starvation our forefathers suffered. My nanna lived through the war, and remembers people pretending to have food but actually having stones in their bag, living days on end on one loaf of bread. I cant blame her or her generation for witnessing this massive childhood trauma and wanting to do anything to ensure their young ones dont suffer similarly.

    Overall, the odds are stacked against us. Many former colonies suffer from these problems, and though we might have similar standards of living to Europe, we simply were not in the same boat for millennia. We definitely need to catch up to the prevalent situation with more education on food, exercise etc.

  19. A traditional diet based on carb heavy foods to sustain traditional working behaviour does not translate to modern sedentary work and lifestyle.

  20. Obesity is a complex issue, and not the result of only one factor. The diet is one thing – as it seems the brits also left us their unhealthy food apart from their oppression, but lack of exercise, pollution, stress, and other unhealthy habits such as alcohol and smoking can also contribute.

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