Preventing diabetes

It is estimated that 285 million people around the world have diabetes according to the International Diabetes Federation. This total is expected to rise to 438 million within the next twenty years, largely driven by the worldwide epidemic in obesity leading to more cases of type 2 diabetes.

In the UK, there were 2.6m cases of diagnosed diabetes in 2009. This is projected to increase to more than 4m by 2025 due to an ageing population and if rates of overweight and obesity continue to rise unchecked. Nine out of ten of cases in the UK are type 2 diabetes.

Untreated, diabetes can lead to coronary heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and loss of limbs. Over half of people with type 2 diabetes die of either heart disease or stroke, and their life expectancy is reduced, on average, by up to 10 years.

The longer people live with diabetes, the greater the risk of developing complications. The rise in overweight and obesity has meant that a significant number of children, some as young as seven, are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes; a condition which usually appears in middle-aged or older people.

It is currently estimated that 10 per cent of the NHS budget is spent on the treatment of diabetes.

Tackling overweight and obesity in all age groups through better diet and increased physical activity is vital to stemming the rising tide of avoidable death and disability from type 2 diabetes.

[Source figures from Diabetes UK]http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Reports/Diabetes_in_the_UK_2010.pdf 

Email a friend