Most diabetics are centrally obese

Almost 80 per cent of men and 95 per cent of women who visit the Diabetes and Endocrine Centre at Mater Dei Hospital are centrally obese which means they have very large waistlines. This shows how the disease can often be prevented through healthy...

Almost 80 per cent of men and 95 per cent of women who visit the Diabetes and Endocrine Centre at Mater Dei Hospital are centrally obese which means they have very large waistlines.

This shows how the disease can often be prevented through healthy lifestyle changes, said Professor Stephen Fava, who heads the centre.

He was speaking this morning during a national seminar on diabetes organised by the Malta Diabetes Association to mark World Diabetes Day on Monday.

Type 2 diabetes, linked to obesity and unhealthy lifestyles, makes up some 90 per cent of diabetes cases.

Prof. Fava said that in Malta the incidence of diabetes was very high at 11.8 per cent of the population suffering from the disease when compared to 8.8 per cent in Italy, 9.5 per cent in Greece and 7.8 per cent in the UK.

Association president Anna Zammit McKeon said that World Diabetes Day was a time to remember the effects of the disease that led to various complications including heart disease, amputations and depression. It was also a time to take stock of what was being done to control the situation and implement stronger prevention measures.

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