What a sorry state our young are in. They are obese; they smoke too much and indulge in rampant, unprotected sex.
We are bombarded daily with reports and statistics predicting that the current 15-20 generation are, like lemmings, marching to an early dive to oblivion.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s latest Health Behaviour in School-age Children study, the number of 15-year-old boys who smoke has gone up to 40.2 per cent in 2006 from 37.6 per cent in 2001/2002.
It also showed an even sharper rise from 40.1 to 45.4 per cent among girls of the same age.
However, it is not clear whether these are global statistics.
Even with regards to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), it was WHO’s estimates, that there was a potential of 13,000 new cases of STDs per year in Malta, that were quoted.
I am assuming that WHO get their statistics from here.
So why do we have to wait for WHO to publish worrying statistics before we get to know about crucial health issues?
Only last week the anti smoking campaign was being lauded as the way to go to fight STDs, and now we hear that the number of teenage smokers in Malta continues to rise.
“We created the environment by banning smoking in public places to try and stop people smoking”, said Health Director Ray Busuttil last week.
Now after the latest statistics on smoking among young people he said, “For this campaign (a new one) to be successful, it was also important to transmit a sense of responsibility to the owners of establishments that allow minors (under 18) to purchase cigarettes illegally. It was also important to enforce the laws that prohibit smoking inside establishments.”
There has been a spate of complaints from people who insist the no smoking law is not being adequately enforced.
That has to be followed up.
But what about places where smoking is not illegal?
Now smokers argue that it is their right to exercise their freedom to smoke, even if it is damaging their health. Some might say fair enough. But is it?
We certainly do not want a Big Brother society. What people do in their own homes is up to them, although parents do have a responsibility to give their children a smoke-free environment.
And it is the National Health Care system that has to pick up the pieces at huge expense to taxpayers, including non-smokers.
Besides, the people sharing smokers’ environment, even outdoors, are being negatively affected.
Only the other week, I had to leave my seat at an outdoor concert because of a group of people smoking constantly behind and in front of me, despite a “Thank you for no (sic) smoking” notice.
One of the best TV anti-smoking ads I have seen recently (I cannot remember which channel, but it definitely was not a local one) showed how the young emulate grown-ups, especially parents, in everything they do. It ended with a mother standing smoking at a window and a child sitting further away using a pencil pretending to smoke.
Of course the same applies to food and drink. If parents are constantly stuffing themselves with junk food and indulge in binge drinking, the children are bound to copy that behaviour.
It is rather like ploughing in water for teachers to instil the right attitude to healthy living if the message is undermined once the children get home.
The percentage of 15-year-old girls who are either overweight or obese has almost doubled between 2002 and 2006, climbing from 16.7 per cent to 27.8 per cent and the levels of extra weight and obesity have also gone up by 4.2 per cent among 15-year-old boys, according to preliminary figures from WHO’s Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study.
The situation is also deteriorating among female 13-year-olds, with the percentage going up from 23.5 per cent to 30.9 per cent, Marianne Massa, principal health promotion officer within the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department, told The Times.
She was not impressed by the release of statistics with no action plan involved. “In the absence of a national programme to tackle obesity, telling children they had a weight problem could do more harm than good. We do not need any more statistics but, rather, to do something about the problem. We need direct action for children,” she said.
Well, I am not sure releasing statistics can do any harm, it certainly manages to raise awareness (articles like this for a start), but I think Ms Massa’s concerns are that the obese children, might go on crash diets.
It certainly is not good enough just to release statistics with no National Plan. However, considering the National Sexual Health Policy debacle, it will probably take years to complete, by which time most of the youngsters might have spontaneously combusted.
Although the new Minister of Health, John Dalli, should make a difference in getting things moving.
Education Minister Dolores Cristina said the reason behind Malta’s overweight and obesity problem could lie in the fact that fast food had become part of our daily lives while more children were living an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.
Of course she is right. Fast food outlets have mushroomed all over the place. If the government is serious about tackling the problem, it can start by not issuing any more, and not renewing, licences for such outlets.
Especially on the promenades where people should be encouraged to walk and not stop every few paces to stuff themselves with junk food and soda.
On the other hand, it should be encouraging entrepreneurs to open health food snack bars, especially in places like Valletta, where most office workers need a good lunch.

pamelapacehansen@gmail.com