‘I couldn’t walk to the letterbox’
Eight weeks ago Craig Kawiti couldn’t walk to his mailbox. Overweight with a weak heart and diabetes, the kind and bubbly Tauranga man was unrecognisable thanks to a beard he’d grown to hide from his friends.
He was ashamed of what he had become and himself.
But yesterday, he climbed Mauao for the tenth time.
With each step, Kawiti is reclaiming his confidence. He is 20kg lighter, can bend down and tie his laces and his type 2 diabetes levels are dropping — slowly but surely.
About 8000 people in the Western Bay of Plenty region have type 2 diabetes, including 1400 Ma¯ori and 200 Pasifika. About 4500 are men.
The number of Kiwis with type 2 diabetes is projected to rise 70 to 90 per cent by 2040 if nothing is done, according to a recent PWC report.
Commissioned by Diabetes New Zealand, the University of Otago’s Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research Centre and Healthier Lives National Science Challenge, the report estimated the $2.1 billion spent treating those with diabetes would increase 63 per cent to $3.5b in 20 years due to the rise in type 2 cases.
People would develop the disease younger and there would be worse health outcomes for minorities if “no action is taken now”, the report found.
It recommended interventions that could save hundreds of millions of dollars, increase life expectancy and improve quality of life for a huge number of New Zealanders.
For Kawiti, diet and exercise have changed his life after health problems at the start of last year had him lying in a hospital bed “packing on the weight”.
Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease while type 2 will develop most commonly in people’s late 30s, but both result in the body not creating enough insulin to keep blood glucose (sugar) levels in check.
For Kawaiti, needing insulin injections was his turning point towards change. “I knew I wasn’t going to last long if I didn’t, I just felt it.
“I couldn’t walk to the letterbox and I was getting worse every day.”
Kawiti joined Sport Bay of Plenty’s green prescription programme, designed to use community connections to nurture healthy lifestyles. He started walking — in the dark at first, to avoid judgement — and has since walked all around the Bay of Plenty.
“After the first week I started doing things but my body size was still the same — I was able to bend down . . . I didn’t have a neck cause I was quite big, but now I can look around everywhere.
“I can run now . . . before I was scared of falling over all the time cause I had balance problems.”
Now he’s looking forward to reaching the six month mark where he will shave off the beard he hides behind.
Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation (PHO) clinical adviser Dr Fiona Whitworth said the number of people with type 2 diabetes in the region is expected to grow over the next 20 years, in line with projected increases nationwide.
“We will definitely see more type 2 diabetes in our communities unless we see significant change occur in lifestyle choices, including diet, weight management and activity levels.
“We need to increase health literacy and awareness of diabetes and pre-diabetes. That means reinforcing
I can run now . . . before I was scared of falling over all the time cause I had balance problems. Craig Kawiti