With my work as a diabetes ambassador for the IDF continuing not only in Australia, but officially throughout the West Pacific, i went searching for information about the Diabetes pandemic and it's stats in Asia. Traditionally, we don't hear much about diabetes in Asia - one of our panellists from China put it simply that "It's not something you share with people in our country [China]". One of the most frightening things is that whilst people remain to the old traditional thought that because Asian people tend to be slimmer and weigh less than most other Western countries, the risk of diabetes is not there. Asian and Middle Eastern news outlet, www.gulfnews.com, ran an article recently about the problem of diabetes in Asia
Published: 09/07/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)
Asia faces obesity and diabetes pandemic
AP
Sydney: The rapid modernisation of China and other Asian countries has produced an alarming spike in the rate of obesity and diabetes, which could undermine the region's economic and social stability, experts warned on Wednesday.Asia currently has around two-thirds of the world's diabetics, or around 90 million people with the disease, according to Paul Zimmet, the chairman of the International Obesity Task Force. The majority of those are type 2 diabetics.
Four out of five of the world's most diabetic populations are also in Asia India, China, Pakistan and Japan and the number of diabetics in Asia is set to reach 120 million by 2010, said Zimmet, citing World Health Organisation data.
By 2025, the number of Asians with diabetes could hit 198 million, he said.
Meanwhile, the rate of obesity among Asian children is increasing by about 1 per cent each year, roughly the same rate as in Australia, the United States and Britain, according to the task force's Asia-Pacific director, Tim Gill.
"It's a social and economic disaster," said Zimmet.
Rapid economic development and the shift from an active, agricultural lifestyle to a sedentary, urban lifestyle are the main factors to blame for Asia's burgeoning weight problem, both experts agree.
As their economies have grown, many Asian countries that were once agriculturally self-sufficient have begun importing high-fat, high-calorie foods that were never a major part of their traditional diets.
In China, for example, the per capita consumption of vegetable oil has increased from around 1 litre per year to up to 17 litres in the past two decades, Gill said.
Anti-fat bias affects women more
Global obesity pandemic combined with society's anti-fat bias is more damaging to women than to men, an expert warned on Wednesday."Being obese and female is as bad as it gets," Berit Heitmann, advisor to the Danish government, told a meeting of world obesity experts in Sydney.
Obese women are socially stigmatised more than their male counterparts, delegates at the 10th International Congress on Obesity heard.
The most disturbing fact i highlighted in yellow. With the diabetes population in the world being estimated to reach 333-369 million by 2025, that means nearly 33% of the worlds' diabetes population will be in Asia alone. It's time that not only diabetes be taken seriously as one of the worst killers in the world (rivalling HIV/AIDS), but also for people to pay real attention to where the help is needed the most.
Alex
2 comments:
Hi, I agree with this post. See, I'm Asian and have lived in Singapore for the past thirteen years (but I grew up in Australia!). I'm 20 and I also have T2 diabetes. There is a need for diabetes care and education all across Asia. I live in Singapore which has one of the best literacy levels in Asia but lots of people don't know the true facts about diabetes - both Type 1 and Type 2. I've seen articles like the one you posted in newspapers, in magazines, but really, I do not see much being done in this area of the world for people like me and you.
Hi Dae,
Thanks for your comment!
What you say is very true - and is what shows the real problem. Even in countries with high literacy rates and solid sustainable healthcare systems (Singapore, Australia!) - Type 1 AND Type 2 both go unseen. And of course this is not only in Asia and the West Pacific - it is happening worldwide.
Diabetes care and education is the step forward. Proper care and access to the best healthcare, insulin and support services for already-diagnosed Type-1 diabetics is most important. Furthermore for Type-2 diabetics and those who do not have diabetes, education about risk factors and steps to prevention are crucial to stopping this epidemic. We can even extend this to current type-1 diabetics in terms of educating them in better ways to take better care of themselves.
It's time better care & education about diabetes is seen as an investment by governments. Preventing type-2 diabetes through education, allowing better access to care for current people with diabetes, and educating them to take better care of themselves will avoid governments paying for amputations, kidney dialysis and futher treatments for complications.
Alex
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