Now the Polish Government has got in on the act with a video from the Health Ministry featuring lots of rabbits (see below). The idea is the obvious one: Poles don’t have very many babies (about 1.3 per woman – one of the lowest fertility rates in the world); rabbits have lots of babies; therefore Poles should be more like rabbits. Apparently (my Polish is not up to much) the video tells viewers that the secret of their big families is exercise, a healthy diet and little stress. Thus, “If you ever want to be a parent, follow the example of rabbits.”

The purpose of the video, according to the Health Ministry is encourage Poles in the prime reproductive years of their life to adopt a healthy lifestyle that would help to improve their chances of conceiving children. It was also intended to raise public awareness of this pressing issue for Poland’s future in a way that did not offend anyone and was “not vulgar”. But can a non-vulgar video featuring rabbits really help to raise the Polish fertility rate? It’s one thing to have a healthy lifestyle so that when one wants to conceive, one has a greater chance of doing so. But in the end, Poles still need to want to conceive. Do they want to have more children?