Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/266770
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2014 News 4 AT just 2,707, the number of ap- proved new dwellings in 2013 was the lowest since the start of the mil- lennium, but permits for dwellings located outside development zones (ODZ) increased from a record low of 42 in 2012 to 81 last year. Since 2000, the Malta Environ- ment and Planning Authority has approved 83,603 new dwellings, 50,504 of which were approved during the building boom between 2003 and 2008. But the number of permits issued has consistently de- clined over the next five years. The latest census shows that the number of properties vacant for most of the year has shot up from 53,136 in 2005 to a staggering 72,150 in 2011. In the same period, MEPA approved 51,366 new dwellings. While in 2012, ODZ dwellings represented just 1.4% of all permits issued by MEPA. The percentage of new ODZ dwellings has now dou- bled to 3% of all newly-approved dwellings. In 2011, ODZ permits represented 2.4% of the total number of new approved dwellings. The highest number of ODZ per- mits was issued in 2005 when 285 units were issued outside develop- ment zones. But these still repre- sented 3.1% of all permits issued in that year. Figures issued by the Malta En- vironment and Planning Author- ity show that in 2013, only 2,707 permits for dwellings were issued, down from 3,064 in 2012. The number of permits issued has declined consistently every in every year since 2008. In fact, while the number of per- mits increased every year between 2000 and 2007 – rising from 3,970 to 11,343 – the numbers of permits consistently declined in the next five years. But while the total number of ap- proved dwellings continued to de- cline, the number of approved mai- sonettes increased from 298 in 2012 to 353 last year. The number of approved terraced A stunning 72.5% of Maltese teens aged 15 and over are insufficiently active, the Word Health Organisa- tion said, in a warning to European countries that overweight was in danger of becoming 'normal' for children and adults across the con- tinent. And a prevalence of overweight amongst 61% of over-20 year-olds put Malta in the top category of overweight nations in WHO sta- tistics. The data comes as no news for the island, as EU figures show Greece with the highest propor- tion of overweight 11-year-olds (33%), followed by Portugal (32%), Ireland and Spain (both 30%). The silver lining is a forecast that by 2020 less men and women will be obese – 19% of men and 17% of women in Malta; and by 2030, 17% of both men and women will be obese. The WHO's European regional office issued a series of country profiles at the opening event in Athens of the Greek presidency of the EU. Estimates from the first round (2007/2008) of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Sur- veillance Initiative (COSI) show that among 6-year-olds in Malta, 34.3% of boys and 29.3% of girls were overweight and 14.7% and 11.7%, respectively, were obese. The Czech Republic, Malta and the UK currently have the highest proportions of overweight adults. In general, children in Europe are just not physically active enough, the WHO says. In 23 out of 36 countries, more than 30% of boys and girls aged 15 or over are not getting enough exercise and eating the wrong sorts of foods. According to a nationally rep- resentative survey carried out in 2008 among individuals aged 15 years or over, 58.5% of Maltese teens and young adults were over- weight and 22.3% were obese. Overweight prevalence esti- mates for men and women were, respectively, 69.0% and 49.0%. The prevalence of obesity for men and women was 24.3% and 20.6%, re- spectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among the Maltese popula- tion aged 18 years and over in 2010 was 62.3% (males 68.5%; females 57.6%) and 29.6% (males 28.2%; fe- males 32.0%), respectively. Maltese kids and teens 'insufficiently active', says World Health Organisation Three out of every four teens aged 15 and over not active enough, says WHO Lowest number of dwellings approved in 2013 84,000 new dwellings approved in the past 13 years James Debono past 13 years James Debono