One fifth of the island’s population suffers from a chronic disease or condition, the 2011 census shows.
The recently-published first volume report on the census, entitled Population, shows that of the 83,102 people who declared they had a chronic disease or condition, 3,943 lived in institutions.
The National Statistics Office defined people in this category as those with a “permanent condition” that “may require a long period of supervision, observation or care”.
The definition used by the US Centre for Managing Chronic Disease is a “long-lasting condition that can be controlled but not cured”. Examples include diabetes, asthma, epilepsy and heart disease.
Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia told Parliament last month the government’s list of 82 chronic diseases would soon be increased by two, when myalgia encephalopathy (ME) and fibromyalgia, were added.
The census did not give a breakdown of which chronic diseases and conditions were most common. Chronic health problems were especially prevalent among the elderly, with more than of half of census respondents aged 70 and over declaring they suffered from such conditions.
Eight per cent of those below 40 said likewise.
In the case of those aged 80 and over, 58 per cent said they had a chronic health problem.
Chronic illnesses were by far the leading cause of mortality in the world, representing 60 per cent of all deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.
Contrary to common perception, 80 per cent of chronic disease deaths occurred in low and middle income countries.
The well-known main causes of chronic health problems were unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and tobacco use, with excessive alcohol considered another risk factor.
The WHO is particularly worried about the long-term health effects of obesity, with a recent study showing that a third of European teenagers were heavier than was recommended for their health.
Malta has long ranked as one of the worst countries in terms of obesity in the EU. Last year, Maltese 10- and 11-year-olds were classed as the second fattest on earth by the International Association for the Study of Obesity.
The census also revealed that 30,183 people, or seven per cent of the population, had some form of “disability or difficulty”. Of these, 2,851 lived in institutions.
Disability was defined as a “restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being”.
Nearly a third of those suffering from a disability had a “physical disability” (9,652 people).
The next most common disabilities were blindness and partial sight loss (7,109), mental health conditions (7,045) and “specific learning difficulties (3,501).
Men were almost twice as likely as women to have a learning difficulty despite there being slightly more females than males in the population as a whole.