Diet-related diseases account for 82 per cent of deaths in Malta, necessitating a change in lifestyle, which is the main objective of the Food and Nutrition Policy and Action Plan.
Unhealthy eating is responsible for a range of health problems in the country: from obesity to several chronic diseases, such as hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.
The five-year plan, unveiled yesterday, has been drawn up by a multidisciplinary working group and addresses the main public health challenges facing the country in the area of nutrition and food.
“Unless we change our lifestyle we are going to lose this battle. This is the challenge,” Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said at the launch of the five-year policy until 2020.
The main public health challenges include the high prevalence of obesity in adults, adolescents and children and the high intake of salt, sugar and fat, especially saturated fat, and the low intake of fruit and vegetables.
Obesity imposes a high financial burden on the country, costing some €25 million in health services annually. Doing nothing would raise that bill to €34 million by 2020.
Reducing Malta’s rate of obesity by 4.3 per cent until 2020 would save the country €3 million a year. A change in diet is necessary.
Maltese consume far too much red meat and very little fish, and the country is second only to Mexico in the consumption of soft drinks.
But the Mediterranean diet has just been recognised by the United Nations as a World Heritage, a fact raised by Zsuzsanna Jakab, European regional director of the World Health Organisation.
She praised the initiative taken with the new policy, saying it was based on clear indicators and focused on action. “Our individual actions can be greatly amplified by collective action,” she said.
Dr Jakab applauded Malta for being the first country in the WHO European Region to renew its food and nutrition policy inspired by the WHO Plan and Health 2020.
She pointed out that poor diets and sedentary lifestyles are contributing to an increase in obesity in most countries of the WHO European region, with lower socio-economic groups bearing the biggest burden.
WHO and the International Obesity Task Force have reiterated that the Maltese are among the heaviest within Europe as well as globally.
The National Food Consumption Survey is projected to give the island a blueprint of the islanders’ eating habits complete with the exact consumption of salt, sugar, fat and protein, among others.
Poor nutrition
• In 2012, cardiovascular disease was the top cause of mortality in the country accounting for more than 46.7 per cent of diseases.
• Around 58 per cent of the population is overweight or obese.
• Eurostat figures still place Maltese men as topping the list of obesity; Maltese women are third.
• Around nine per cent of the population have diabetes, and this is considered to be an underestimation because many are simply unaware they have the disease.
• Close to 30 per cent suffer from hypertension. Prevalence increases with age in both genders.
• The incidence of stomach cancer in males is approximately 14 cases per 100,000 while for females it is about five cases per 100,000.
• The incidence of colorectal cancer in males is approximately 60 cases per 100,000 while for females it is about 38 cases per 100,000.
• The lifetime prevalence of hypercholesterolemia is about nine per cent.
Priority action
• To promote water consumption in schools.
• To increase the number of mothers that exclusively breastfeed up to six months.
• To reduce the availability and intake of foods high in fat, sugar and salt in schools.
• To develop a comprehensive surveillance and monitoring system on food consumption.