Education found to affect quality of life, birth rate

The Maltese are among the leaders in the lumpy league of EU countries and can also lay claim to being among the shortest people in Europe, according to the findings of the Lifestyle Survey 2003 released by the National Office of Statistics.

Sixty per cent of the population are either overweight or obese, with the average male weighing in at 78.5kg compared to the EU average of 78.8 and the average female weighing 65.8kg, surpassing the EU average of 65.4kg.

But the Maltese do not have the height to compensate for their weight. Maltese men have an average height of 169.9cm, only slightly taller than the Portuguese - the shortest men in Europe, who average 169.4cm. The EU average is 175.3cm. Maltese women are the shortest in Europe, averaging 159.9cm compared to 164cm in the EU.

Perhaps, as the local saying goes, we can claim that l-essenza ssibha fil-flixken iz-zghar (the essence is carried in small bottles).

The survey was carried out between last June and July. It sought to determine the lifestyle of Maltese aged 18 years and over and to highlight the difference between social groups.

A sample of 1,000 people were randomly selected from the electoral register and the data were collected through self-completed questionnaires mailed to the respondents - the response rate was 52.8 per cent.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, NSO director general Alfred Camilleri highlighted the limitations of the survey, among them the small sample size and the fact that people filled in the questionnaires themselves.

The survey was presented by the NSO's research and methodology unit manager, Herald Bonnici, and statistician Silvan Zammit.

An interesting factor which emerged from the study was that the higher the level of education attained by respondents, the better their quality of life.

A higher level of education also seems to be equated with a lower birth rate. On average, women attaining tertiary education waited until they were nearly 28 years old to give birth as opposed to those with no schooling, who had children at the age of 22.

The number of children they had also varied according to their education - those with no schooling had an average of 3.4 children, compared to 0.8 children being born to those who had a tertiary education.

Education also seemed to have an impact on how much people exercised - those with no schooling spent 50 minutes a week exercising, while those with a tertiary education spent 260 minutes.

An overall average shows that men practise sports or exercise for 140 minutes, 20 minutes more than the average woman.

Reading books turns out to be a favourite hobby among the respondents, with 38.3 per cent, and those with a higher level of education reading more.

This contrasts somewhat with a survey carried out by the NSO in March last year, when 56 per cent of those sampled said they had not read one book in a year and 44 per cent said they did not even bother to read a magazine.

When this was pointed out, Mr Bonnici said it all depended on what exactly the respondents understood by book reading.

Home decoration was the second favourite pastime, followed by gardening.

The survey also indicated that 3,805 people, or 1.3 per cent of the adult population, made use of illegal substances during the six months preceding the questionnaire.

Sedqa chief executive Sina Bugeja, who attended the presentation, pointed out that this did not include those who were under 18 and dabbled in drugs.

The results showed that 33.3 per cent of women and 27.6 per cent of men made use of pain relievers which had not been prescribed by a doctor. These can include tranquillisers, sedatives or steroids.

Maltese also love to drink in their free time, men more than women in this case - 47.5 per cent of men drink alcohol on a regular basis (i.e. at least once a week), as opposed to 75 per cent of women who claimed not to drink on a regular basis.

Men's favourite tipple is beer (54.4 per cent) while women prefer to sip a glass of wine (49.2 per cent). Spirits are the least popular among men, while women prefer it over beer.

The survey showed a correlation between those who smoked and who drank - 32.2 per cent of those who consumed alcohol smoked regularly.

On the whole, the Maltese also love to eat out at restaurants (46.8 per cent) and in their free time 23.9 per cent enjoy watching a film at the cinema.

Some main findings

¤ On average both men and women rate their overall health as good (38.9 per cent) or fair (38.1 per cent). Young adults rate their health best.

¤ 60 per cent of the population is either overweight or obese.

¤ Book reading is the most popular hobby with the adult population.

¤ Women aged 18 years or over gave birth to an average of 1.9 children. The number of children women have is related to their education level and occupation.

¤ 78,800 persons (26.9 per cent) suffer from a long-term health problem and/or disability.

¤ 17.7 per cent and 22.6 per cent of those who suffer from a long-term health problem smoke tobacco and consume alcohol respectively.

¤ 68.6 per cent of the population use a car.

¤ Those who are divorced, annulled or separated are the least satisfied with their lives.

¤ Maltese sleep an average of 7.4 hours, while those aged between 18 and 24 sleep 42 minutes less on weekends.

¤ 86.4 per cent of the population did not move out of the district they lived in until 14 years of age. In particular 96.2 per cent of Gozitans did not move out.

¤ 26,370 persons, or 22.4 per cent, of those who lived in the southern harbour or south eastern districts until they were 14 years old moved to the northern harbour, western or northern districts. Only 11,340 of these persons moved to the southern districts.