Yorkshire city worst in UK for diabetes

HEALTH CHIEFS have warned that diabetes is the “fastest growing health crisis of our time” as a Yorkshire city was named as the location with the greatest prevalence of the condition in the UK.

Figures published today have shown that the number of people living with diabetes has doubled in the last 20 years. The study by the charity Diabetes UK found that the number of people diagnosed with the condition across the UK has reached almost 3.7m – an increase of 1.9m since 1998.

Meanwhile, a further 12.3m people are at an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to the charity’s analysis.

Bradford has the UK’s highest prevalence of diabetes, with one in 10 people in the West Yorkshire city diagnosed with the condition. The lowest prevalence is in Richmond in west London, where just 3.6 per cent of people are living with a diagnosis, the charity found. The national average is 6.6 per cent.

The charity also estimates that there are nearly a million people who have diabetes but are not aware of it. Almost nine in 10 people diagnosed with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes, which has been linked to lifestyle factors such as obesity.

“Diabetes is the fastest-growing health crisis of our time – and the fact that diagnoses have doubled in just 20 years should give all of us serious pause for thought,” said Diabetes UK’s chief executive Chris Askew.

The charity has called on the Government to introduce stricter restrictions both on junk food advertising to children and supermarket price promotions for unhealthy foods.

NHS England’s national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, Professor Jonathan Valabhji, said the research “shines a light” on the nation’s growing obesity crisis and urged people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.