Why Maltese Women Don't Get Fat

Watch yourself while you're walking down the street in the morning. You may slip on a soapy sidewalk in front of someone's house-or get a sprinkling of water down from a window as someone waters his/her hanging plants.

That's because Maltese women (usually the women) clean their houses every morning. This is not a complete cleaning; that happens on the weekend. But this cleaning (which often occurs anywhere from 7 AM onwards, Monday through Friday) is a daily cleaning ritual.

To us Americans, this may be a little obsessive. However, this is how the Maltese women keep fit.

While it's true that obesity is increasing among Maltese children as in other western societies, it's a lot less than in America. You see many Maltese women in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s with good figures-meaning that they are slim, seem fit and still even look good in jeans.

Walking around the hilly areas and streets of Malta may have something to do with it. But I think it's the housecleaning. Think of all the exercise they get while cleaning: filling up and dragging around buckets of water, scrubbing the floor and walls, reaching up to water plants, pushing around mops and vacuum cleaners, scrubbing stoves, ovens and sinks-not to mention carrying laundry up and down three flights of stairs in the typical Maltese townhouse.

And the Maltese don't even consider this exercise. When they want to exercise, they take a walk along the seafront or in the countryside.

Americans are always dieting and getting fatter and fatter. They join gyms, buy expensive fitness equipment for their homes, go for hypnosis-and then hire people to clean their homes. They'd be better off doing it the Maltese way-pushing around a broom and mop everyday and carrying a few buckets of water each week. It's a less expensive and more effective way of staying in shape.

Ilene Springer is author of An-American-in-Malta.com.