Malta is the most obese country in the European Union, a Eurostat study has confirmed.

According to the report, the latest figures show that Malta’s obesity rate stands at 28.7%. the largest in the bloc. The lowest, meanwhile, are Romania (10.9%) and neighbours Italy (11.7%).

The obesity rate in the entire EU has increased year on year with almost 23 EU countries seeing a rise in obesity rate from 2014 to 2019.

The latest figures confirm a recent WHO report that discovered that around 40% and 36% of Maltese children and adolescents are overweight.

The report reviewed 52 countries across the board, showing that Maltese kids aged five to nine years were the third most overweight across all sexes, while adolescents aged 10 – 19 years placed second.

In addition, boys aged 11 and 15 years, were earmarked as the heaviest in the region, with 45% of 11-year-olds and 40% of 15-year-olds classed as overweight, if not obese.

The government recently launched a national strategy to combat childhood obesity.

Lovin Malta has recently looked at Malta’s weight problem through a wide-ranging survey that has covered everything from eating habits to meal frequency, ahead of an upcoming documentary with Steve Miller, an international weight loss expert, on the issue.

What can be done to solve Malta’s obesity problem?