Malta should make diabetes and obesity prevention one of its top priorities during the 2017 EU presidency, according to MEP Therese Commodini Cachia.

“Raising awareness and preventing diabetes is truly a European challenge, with this chronic condition affecting the lives of more than 56 million Europeans,” Dr Commodini Cachia, who co-chairs the European Parliament diabetes working group, said yesterday.

According to a new World Health Organisation report, Malta leads the EU in having the highest rate of obesity.

A report by the International Diabetes Federation also confirmed that Malta has among the highest diabetes rates in Europe, with a prevalence of 6.64 per cent.

According to the IDF report, there were 269 deaths from diabetes in 2014, while some 12,000 patients were undiagnosed.

Speaking during a debate in Strasbourg ahead of World Diabetes Day, Dr Commodini Cachia called for more funding to be made available for prevention policies, awareness raising, education for healthy lifestyles and physical activity.

She added that families had to make a conscious choice to encourage a healthy lifestyle in young people, in which education also had a part to play. “Schools have an important role in promoting physical activity for children, as well as in promoting sports education,” she said. “But we also need to invest heavily in sport activities organised by civil society.”