Binge drinking is a “worrying new phenomenon” in Malta and must be tackled before it becomes “more prevalent”, according to the first nationwide check-up on the island’s health system.

One in 10 young adults aged 15 to 34 reported knocking back six or more drinks on one occasion, exposing a problem that should be urgently addressed by health authorities, according to the conclusions of the draft Health Systems Performance Assessment.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said he was surprised by two results – the rate of binge drinking, and the “very good” grading the island garnered for its consumption of fruit and vegetables.

“We knew binge drinking was an issue, but we didn't realise to what extent. This clearly shows we have to tackle this problem in a more systematic manner,” Mr Fearne said. 

Binge drinking, together with the rate of obesity and lack of exercise, dragged down the overall grading for the island’s health determinants to “poor”.

The report shows Malta is doing very well on the level of consumption of fruit and vegetables, although this does not provide an indication of what other foods are being wolfed down in general. The prevalence of smoking seems well controlled and the report says the island “seems to be winning the battle against smoking” when compared to its European peers. 

Malta received a “good” mark for the overall assessment of its health status and compared favourably with the EU in all except two of the 11 indicators  -  the incidence of type 1 diabetes in children and infant mortality rate – Malta does not terminate pregnancies if a congenital anomaly is uncovered during the pregnancy. 

More details in The Sunday Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.