Nearly one in every three people over 65 is obese, official EU data has revealed, making Malta’s older generation among the heaviest in Europe.
In the rest of the EU, the average rate is one in five, according to a report on ageing in Europe by the EU’s statistics arm, Eurostat.
The report says that in Malta, more than 30% of those aged between 65 and 74 were obese in 2017, the year under review. The statistics office considers persons ‘obese’ if their body mass index (their body mass in kilograms divided by the square of their height in metres) is of 30 or more.
Malta’s rate, it emerged, is among the highest in Europe, with only Latvia, Estonia and Hungary registering higher numbers.
While the rate was found to have decreased slightly among the over 75s, a quarter of these were still found to be obese. According to the data, a quarter of those older than 75 were found to have BMIs of over 30 in 2017.
Acknowledging the phenomenon, the Eurostat researchers noted that “the likelihood that somebody is obese increases with age” with about one fifth of Europeans aged between 65 and 74 having a BMI of over 30, up from 14.9% of adults under 65.
Apart from shedding light on the older generations, the data also confirms that problems with excessive weight are impacting people of all ages as a quarter of adults over 16 were also found to be obese.
The health authorities in Malta have grappled with the problem for years, with studies focusing on children conducted in the past few years showing that a whopping 40% were either obese or overweight. According to these studies, young girls are the most susceptible to having excessive weight, with 15% of seven-year-olds being obese.
Reacting to the data, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci told Times of Malta that, unfortunately, the group under review come from a generation that “missed out completely” on awareness campaigns that focus on the importance of healthy diets.
“We tend to focus on children because they have a better chance of learning to lead a healthy life. At the same time, we also want to help adults and the elderly change their habits,” Dr Gauci said.
She explained that while help for children can easily be provided in schools, it is not always as straightforward to provide older people with assistance.
To help those over 65 with weight problems, the health authorities provide support services at community level, something which has proved popular with the elderly who take the opportunity to socialise.
“We do get a lot of elderly people joining our sessions because they want to meet others. But that’s still good. Old people, especially those living alone, are more likely to fall into the temptation of not cooking and eating junk food so it’s very important they feel part of something as that too can change their eating habits,” Dr Gauci said.
Looking ahead, the health authorities plan to publish guidelines specifically designed to help the elderly opt for healthier options, portion control and other measures to tackle excessive weight. Similar guidelines designed for children and adults published in recent years have proved useful, she said.
Recently appointed Commissioner for the Elderly Mary Vella said that the problem with obesity was a “global” one impacting countries all over the world.
Yet, while the problem persists, the Commissioner is confident it is being addressed because there is more awareness of the issue and people are more willing to seek help.
On whether the elderly were willing to change their lifestyle or if it was too late for them to change their ways, Dr Vella said services and assistance on offer today made it much easier for people to come forward, so even the elderly were finding it easier to seek the help they required.