As the age-old adage goes, prevention is better than cure. But the fact that Malta’s rate of diabetes, one of the world’s highest, is on a consistently upward trajectory shows that prevention is clearly lacking and that diseases that are largely preventable by simple lifestyle changes are bound to continue exacting an ever-greater toll not only on individual’s lives but also in terms of costs for the national healthcare system.

One would have imagined that, considering today’s heightened health awareness, that diabetes forecasts would, at long last, have begin to decline in Malta - but not so according to a recent report by the International Diabetes Federation.

In 2014, 35,200 people in Malta were diagnosed with diabetes – equally an alarming 8.8% of the Maltese population.  But instead of being on the decline, that number is due to rise to 36,800 (9.2% of the population) by 2035.  There are also believed to be roughly 12,000 undiagnosed cases of diabetes across the nation.

It is true that Malta’s ageing population plays a significant role in the country’s overall diabetes rate, with rates for over 60s being double those for other adults.  But the main culprit, as far as the more preventable Type 2 Diabetes, which accounts for some 90% of all cases, is concerned, is lack of exercise and poor dietary habits.

Study after study, international and local alike, keep confirming the same result: that Maltese men, women and children are becoming increasingly overweight. In fact, close to 25% of the Maltese male population is gauged to be overweight, and the figure stands at just over 20% for women. 

Studies have also worryingly showed 33% of Maltese children to be overweight or actually obese, as much as 18.9 percent are actually obese, and 14% of children stand at risk of becoming overweight.  56% of Maltese children are, meanwhile, healthy and 11% are underweight.

Sedentary behaviour such as watching television, playing computer games and overall physical inactivity are strongly correlated with being overweight, as is the unhealthy, ironically non-Mediterranean diet that prevails in most households.

The coupling of poor dietary habits and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle are a recipe for disaster, considering the fact that as matters already stand diabetes mellitus fatalities in Malta, at 23.3 deaths per year per 100,000 people, are nearly double the EU average of 13.9.  The disease, linked to the same poor eating habits that lead to obesity, is third-highest cause of death among Maltese, while heart disease, also linked to unscrupulous food choices, is the second, at 131.9, also bettering the EU average of 106.1.  Cancer, with its multiple factors, some of which include links to eating habits, remains the number one killer in Malta at 151.8 deaths, lower than the EU average of 187.7.

The good news is that by taking more exercise and eating more healthily, we can all individually tackle not only the risk of diabetes, but also that of cancer and a host of other non-communicable diseases in the process.

Each and every one of us holds the keys to the prevention of these diseases and as such, at the end of the day, it is up to us whether to use them or not.