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UK Prime Minister aims directly at Maltese waistlines (again)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson thought it was a good idea to fire shots at Malta’s ever-growing obesity issues just a few weeks ago.
“We are significantly fatter than most others – apart from the Maltese for some reason,” said Johnson.
Making the comment as he launched an anti-obesity campaign, the Prime Minister warned that failure to take drastic action would see the UK overtake Malta as having the highest percentage of obesity in Europe.
Disclaimer: his comment did not go down well.
Johnson aimed directly at our waistlines once again this week, commenting that the British are “considerably fatter than most other European nations, apart from the Maltese.”
Arguably worse than that however, is that he urged us not to take offence. Offence taken, thank you and not-so-kind regards.
Tory MP Caroline Nokes highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on overweight people and asked about action taken to encourage people to stop fat-shaming and relying too heavily on Mass Body Index measurements.
If his initial comments weren’t exactly welcomed, can you imagine how we felt about the second mention?
I repeat: offence taken, Boris.
We’re just going to leave this here…
maltese prime minister robert abela, 2020
robert abela, 1997
In spite of our taking offence however, we thought it fair to give you a little insight into the National Statistic Office’s latest findings, for some context.
- 25.5% of Maltese are considered to be obese, when compared to 14.9% in the rest of Europe, on average
- 35.4% of Maltese are normal weight and 2.9% are underweight.
- In Europe, 45.4% are normal weight and 3.3% are underweight
- According to the World Health Organisation, Malta tops the obesity list in the following age groups: 11, 13 and 15 year olds
