Malta’s free gyms: great idea, but for whom?

In an exciting speech by Malta’s Finance Minister, Clyde Caruana, young adults aged 18 to 20 will be provided with six months of free gym membership. Individuals born between 2005-7 can save up to €225-€450 on a six-month gym membership in a new initiative by Malta’s former bodybuilder Prime Minister Robert Abela, to increase youth activity and decrease Malta’s sky-high child obesity rates. Youths can apply on the youthfitness.gov.mt website, and 65 selected gyms will roll out this service.

Funding will come from taxpayers, as Abela has allocated €2 million from their €1.3 billion 2025 health fund, one of their largest spending areas, to fund this initiative. However, in absolute terms, Malta’s overall debt continues to increase, rising from €9.8 billion in 2023 to €11.1bn in 2024. Debt is expected to amount to €12 billion in 2025. This increase highlights the government’s ongoing financial commitments, including social programs like the free gym membership plan, which are crucial for driving economic growth and development.

This costs Malta’s health economy 70 euros annually for obesity treatments.

Malta’s obesity crisis (in this case, child obesity) is a worrying one. Malta currently has one of the highest rates of obesity worldwide, with 40% of primary and 42.6% of secondary school children being overweight or obese. The World Health Organisation recommends that children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) daily; however, Maltese children are amongst the lowest to achieve this. Currently, in their PE lessons, they have 31 hours of PE lessons annually, compared to the UK (76 hours) and France (108 hours). According to Dr Alfred Gatt, this costs Malta’s health economy 70 euros annually for obesity treatments, thus affecting taxpayer funds, which could be redirected to public services, environment and energy, and social policy.

In a study conducted by Rankin et al (2016), obese children were more likely to experience multiple associated psychosocial problems than their healthy-weight peers, influenced by bullying and teasing. Overweight or obese children between 6-13 years of age were 4-8 times more likely to be teased and bullied than their normal-weight peers. 25% of obese girls used extreme weight-control behaviours such as inducing vomiting, abusing laxatives, diet pills, fasting or smoking. Additionally, there was increased body dissatisfaction and lower perceived self-worth and self-confidence found in this group in comparison to their normal-weight peers. Obese adolescents were clearly at risk of developing a restrictive eating disorder.

As a solution to weight-based insecurities and health concerns, the free gym initiative could not only reverse this, but also increase the self-esteem of children and teenagers, as well as encourage physical activity. This eases the strain on Malta’s health budget, and the burden on schoolteachers to encourage physical activity and movement. With the way gym culture has transformed the way teenagers on social media interact with health and fitness, with fitness ads, healthy eating step-by-steps, and workout videos, this highly influential culture could shape the way children engage with their physical health.

Professor Nachi Chockalingam, from Staffordshire University’s Centre for Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Technologies, conducted an experiment. 120 children aged 9 to 10, attending state primary schools, participated in the study over one school year. While a control group was taught the national PE curriculum, an intervention group took part in the Sports, Play and Active Recreation for Kids PE education program. Over a period of eight months, the intervention group reported improvements in BMI, resting heart rate, jump height and balance parameters, while overweight and obesity prevalence decreased by 15.7% compared to 3.2% in the control group, meaning the intervention worked, and physical activity can reverse the effects of obesity.

4 in 10 teens stopped attending the gym after two visits.

However, with Malta’s free gym membership, it is only eligible for those with a Maltese ID card. Marina Gusarov, a University of Malta student and Maltese resident cardholder, had her free gym application rejected. Despite her living in Malta for 9 years, she is not eligible, and the government is working to extend the application process to Maltese resident cardholders. In another disaster for the free gym initiative, 4 in 10 teens stopped attending the gym after two visits, throughout their six-month membership, making taxpayers who are funding this, if it should even be a priority. Thus, these terms need to be reconsidered.

The UK, with a much higher adult obesity rate than Malta, with 64.5% of adults in England being overweight or obese, could benefit from a free gym membership for youths born in 2005-7. Setting good physical activity habits early on is key to optimal muscle ageing. Abigail Mackey, professor at the University of Copenhagen and the Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, found that exercising early in life is important, so that the cells are conditioned to protect motor neurons before they are lost. There was a clear improvement in the survival of the motor neurons from the cells of lifelong exercisers.

Funding for free gym memberships in the UK could come from a combination of government and lottery grants via organisations like Sport England, local council budgets, corporate sponsorship, community fundraising through donations and crowdfunding, and grants from trusts and foundations. Local governments currently spend £1.1billion per year on sport, leisure, parks, and green spaces, ensuring that people have access to a place to run, walk, and cycle. A subsidised gym membership for target groups (which BBC Sport says are girls, SEND children, and people from disadvantaged backgrounds) could increase physical activity uptake, reducing the strain on the NHS.