News

The Czech health authorities are preparing to conduct a number of fresh surveys regarding the number of overweight and obese people in the Czech population. Doctors say that Czechs generally see obesity as an esthetic problem and pay little attention to the fact that it brings serious health problems. The last surveys conducted in 2008 showed that over 50 percent of Czechs have a weight problem. Thirty percent of those tested were found to be overweight, twenty five percent were obese. This is attributed to a sedentary lifestyle, stress and fast food.

The film Protektor directed by Marek Najbrt won the Kristian award at the international Prague film festival Febiofest which ended with a gala ceremony on Friday night. Jiri Barta’s film In the Attic was voted best animated film of 2009. Welcome to Korea by Linda Jablonska received the critics’ prize for best documentary. Swiss actor Bruno Ganz – who has starred in such films as The Downfall, Wings of Desire, and The American Friend, was presented with a special prize recognizing his contribution to cinema. The festival saw 184 films from 57 countries screened.

The Czech School Inspection has found that a high number of children from socially-challenged environments unnecessarily attend special schools in the Czech Republic. The schools largely educate mildly mentally-handicapped children, or children with developmental disabilities. The Inspection began its investigation into special schools last autumn at the behest of the Education Ministry. So far, it has found that 110 children – more than a quarter of them Romany – attended special schools without due reason. An additional 173 cases are being looked into. The deputy head of the Czech School Inspection, Libor Vacek, suggested earlier that poor diagnostics were part of the problem, sometimes ranking children from poor backgrounds among those with mild disabilities. But 34 special schools which received state funding could see high fines and face possible closure if it is found they purposely abused the system to fill classrooms. The Inspection is expected to conclude its review of special schools in May.

The Civic Democratic Party’s election leader Petr Nečas has said he is not expecting any changes to his party’s candidates’ lists ahead of the national election, reacting on Friday to speculation that the Civic Democrats were planning to strike former interior minister Ivan Langer off of the ballot. Mr Langer, the party’s campaign manager and a close former ally of outgoing party leader Mirek Topolánek, is running in the region of Olomouc. Mr Nečas said on Friday that although changes to the lists were not expected, such decisions would ultimately be up to regional leaders. The regional head of the Civic Democrats in Olomouc, contacted by the ČTK news agency, said that no changes were planned.