Growing waistlines increase diabetes risk

By Guo Shuhan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-11 10:49

Every hour China sees 115 new cases of diabetes, Chinese scientists and doctors revealed at the 13th Annual Conference of the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) in Zhengzhou, Henan province, last week.

Home to about 41 million diabetics, China has the world's second-largest diabetic population, after India. Also, those with Type-2 diabetics in China are much younger (aged between 20 and 59) than their counterparts in the West, according to a 2007 survey by the International Diabetes Federation.

The secretion of insulin is lower among Asians than among whites, putting Asians at a higher risk of diabetes, says Jaakko Tuomilehto, professor of Public Health at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

But Ji Linong, chairman of CDS and director of the endocrinology department of People's Hospital in Beijing, believes high-calorie diets and sedentary lifestyles are more to blame for the scourge in China.

By 2002, 23 percent of the Chinese population was deemed overweight, which is 28 times the number in 1985. And obesity has long been a major factor in Type-2 diabetes, Ji says. Lifestyle changes in the early years offer the best bet against potential risks, he adds.

With the United Nation's Diabetes Day being observed this Saturday, a series of events are being held to help raise public awareness of the disease.

A CDS brochure on how to prevent diabetes will be distributed in all big cities on this day. It will explain what diabetes and pre-diabetes is, how it is diagnosed and treated and how to prevent its occurrence.

Maintaining a healthy weight, cutting out all fatty foods, adding dietary fiber, and engaging in intensive physical activities twice or thrice a week, says Jaakko, can reduce the risk of having diabetes by up to 58 percent.

Those with diabetes should keep to a healthy diet of fruit, vegetable, coarse food grains, such as whole wheat bread, beans and low fat milk, experts suggest.

Saying no to foods with sugar or carbohydrates will not have the desired effect, Dr Ji says. Normal intake of foods, such as pumpkin, carrot or even watermelon has little impact on blood sugar.

"Diabetes should be emphasized as a 'public health problem' and should exercise the whole of society. Financial support from the government [to fight it] is crucial," Ji says.

The conference attracted experts and companies from home and abroad including Merck &Co Inc.