It is difficult to understand the object of Jean Karl Soler’s repeated contradictions of quoted statistics of type 2 diabetes (‘Stable diabetes prevalence’, June 14).

Whether the actual prevalence of diabetes in Malta lies nearer to earlier estimates of   5.9 per cent, 6.2 per cent, 7.7 per cent or the high estimate of 13.9 per cent recently arrived at by the International Diabetes Federation is irrelevant.   The situation is simple.

The inescapable fact is that type 2 diabetes is now regarded as a serious global health problem. Increasing population age, obesity of epidemic proportions, lack of exercise and abundance of refined and packaged foods over the last two to three decades are all pointers to an increase in diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is now starting to be seen in children as a result of a surge in childhood obesity. It is counter-productive to indulge in nitpicking on statistics because it distracts from the magnitude of the problem.