Malta tops European chart for ‘Fattest’ country

Malta has maintained its top spot as the EU’s fattest country, a recent study on the World’s most obese countries has revealed.  Out of the EU 27 states, the Maltese have the record for the most obese and the most overweight.

The average weight of an adult human being in the world is 62 Kilograms. The Maltese average weight 76,96 Kg. This average is the seventh highest in the world and leads all other European Nations. The UK has the tenth position with an average weight of 75.79 Kg. Other EU countries that have a much healthier lifestyle than ours in Malta. Italy’s average weight is only 69.20 Kg. whilst Romania has the lowest average weight for humans in Europe at 66.4 Kg. The French have the next best average with 66.78 Kg per person.

The pacific island nations of Micronesia and Tonga are at the top of the league table, followed closely by the United States where the average adult weighs 81.93 kg. The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health and launched on Monday at the United Nations conference Rio+20, highlights the problem of obesity in relation to the environment. Excess consumption shortens people's lives and accelerates the destruction of the environment, and is concentrated in richer countries. The average body mass globally was 62 kg.

The World Health Organisation puts obesity as one of the major health challenges that both societies and governments need to tackle to reduce the problem as much as possible. WHO has warned that excess weight increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. Obesity also causes various physical disabilities and psychological problems, WHO said in one of their statements about the topic.   

Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults.  BMI is worked out by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of his height in meters (kg/m²).A person whose BMI is greater than  25 is overweight, whilst a person with a BMI of  30 and over is deemed to suffering from obesity.