The majority of diabetic patients also suffer from obesity, it has emerged, as a large portion of the Maltese population continues to struggle with the problems of excess weight.

Researchers from the University of Malta’s Faculty of Medicine studied a group of some 4,000 adults aged between 18 and 70 to determine the economic implications of ‘diabesity’.

Of those with type 2 diabetes, more than 55 per cent were found to be obese, with women packing on the pounds more than men.

The majority of diabetic patients also suffer from obesity.

According to the data, more than 62 per cent of diabetic women were obese. For men, the figure was slightly lower at nearly 52 per cent.

The study, called ‘The Diabesity Health Economic Crisis’, is the first of its kind locally in 35 years, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) having conducted a diabetes prevalence study in Malta back in 1981.

Younger diabetics are more likely to tip the weighing scales than older patients, with those younger than 55 being predominantly obese or overweight. Only a mere four per cent of those with the disease had normal weight.

According to the researchers, although diabetes might not develop in all those who are obese, the accumulation of fatty tissue could initiate a cascade of metabolic events. These in turn would make it more likely for those with diabetes to develop various metabolic diseases including hypertension, dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular disease, they said.

While the general population is expected to decline slightly in the decades to come, the same cannot be said for the prevalence of the two diseases. The researchers found that the diabetes and obese populations will increase by about 28 per cent and 15 per cent respectively by 2050.

The report shows that each diabetic person’s care costs €1,887 annually, an annual health burden of about €29 million. This is close to 12 per cent of the annual salary of someone with an average wage.

The figure includes both direct medical costs that cover hospital inpatient expenses, physician care, emergency care, outpatients care and prescriptions, as well as indirect costs. The latter accounted for absence from work and reduced work performance and productivity as a result of the disease.

While caring for those with the two diseases this year cost about €53 million, in about 30 years’ time this financial burden will hit the €80 million mark. Of this, some €34 million will be spent on diabetes and another €46 million on treating obesity.

On what was shaping such trends, the study highlights the change in the dietary patterns of the Maltese as a cause of the rapidly increasing prevalence of the two diseases. While up to 150 years ago, the population followed a Mediterranean lifestyle and diet, in more recent years there has been a shift to a more Westernised lifestyle and diet, the researchers found.

Carried out between November 2014 and January this year, the data was obtained from a cross-sectional health examination survey among 4,000 individuals aged between 18 and 70. Only those with type 2 diabetes mellitus were considered for the study.

To obtain their data, a nationwide health examination survey called Saħħtek was set up. The researchers then used data from the national registry to collect information that represented roughly one per cent of the population from each locality.

Those individuals who were chosen to take part were then invited to undergo a free health check-up, for which their height and weight were recorded in order to work out each individual’s body mass index.

The authors of the study were Sarah Cuschieri, Josanne Vassallo, Neville Calleja, Nikolai Pace, Janice Abela, Bader A. Ali, Fatemah Abdullah, Elizier Zahra and Julian Mamo.

Prevalence rates of diabetes and obese population for 2016

Projected prevalence rates of diabetes and obese population for 2050

claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com