Maltese adults' knowledge about obesity

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity in Malta is very high with almost a quarter of the Maltese population being obese. In the Health Interview Survey of the 2002, the figures had shown that 25 percent of men and 21.2 per cent of woman had a Body Mass Index of over 30 (Busuttil, 2009). The NSO Lifestyle survey, 2007 showed that whilst an average of one European in five says that they are overweight, in Malta this applies to over one in three (34 per cent) (Cooke, 2008). This study sets to investigate the Maltese adults' knowledge about obesity as this may have a bearing on the likelihood of the individuals taking action to control their weight. The tool used in this study was a telephone survey. The target population of this study was all Maltese adults. Therefore, participants had to be Maltese citizens and above the age of 18. The sample size was that of 30 and participants were chosen from the national telephone directory. True randomisation was obtained by producing random numbers generated by Microsoft Excel©. If nobody answered the number dialed, it was considered as a non respondent. It was found that the average knowledge of the Maltese adults expressed as a mark out of 100, was 64. This was not as serious as the problem itself. Therefore it appears that despite knowing what the consequences of obesity are, Maltese adults still lead quite an unhealthy lifestyle. It may be suggested that campaigns need to be aimed more at behaviour modification strategies than about imparting knowledge, as knowledge alone does not essentially lead to a change in behaviour.