Diagnosis around, loses 20kg in eight weeks

much we exercise, it’s much bigger than that — it’s about how we live.”

Fifth Ave Family Practice GP Dr Luke Bradford said the projected rise of type 2 diabetes aligned with his experience.

Regular testing and measuring for diabetes was an area the health system wanted to focus on as it was a disease health professionals could often see coming, he said.

However, Bradford also questioned how the industry encouraged people to live healthier lifestyles. “How do we get people up and moving? How do we get them to eat healthier and be aware that weight is an issue?

“But how do we bring Ma¯ori and Pasifika and our south Indian neighbours along with us on this journey and let them lead in a way that makes sense for them?

“How do we protect their tikanga, but at the same time, protect them from his illness?” Otago University Edgar Diabetes and Obesity

Research Centre director, Professor Rachael Taylor, said something needed to change to stem the growing “epidemic”.

“Type 2 diabetes is not tracked as a national health target for a start, and yet the figures are growing at an alarming rate. “All eyes remain on Covid-19 as a major current global health issue, but New Zealand is facing a staggering increase in numbers of people with type 2 diabetes and astronomical costs associated with this disease.”

Healthier Lives National Science Challenge director Professor Jim Mann said the industry had known type 2 diabetes was a worrying issue for a long time.

“But we now know that its impact on New Zealand can be measured as a fraction of GDP with the $2.1b annual equivalent to 0.67 per cent of GDP.

“That’s just for this one disease and is in purely financial terms, let alone the human cost to individuals and their wha¯nau.”

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