Record 4m suffer from diabetes as obesity levels soar
THE number of Britons with diabetes has topped four million for the first time due to soaring obesity, worrying figures have revealed.
Rates have increased by two thirds in a decade, and if current trends continue experts believe there will be around five million with the illness by 2025.
They said the need to tackle the condition ‘has never been so stark’ and called on the Government to take urgent steps to address Britain’s obesity crisis, such as making healthy food cheaper.
Figures analysed by the charity Diabetes UK show there are now 4.05million adults and children with diabetes.
This includes 3.5million who have been officially diagnosed and another 549,000 who are living with the condition unknowingly.
More than nine out of ten have Type 2 diabetes – which is linked to obesity – while the rest have the genetic form, Type 1. Currently almost two in every three people in the UK are overweight or obese.
The charity warned that each year 24,000 patients with diabetes die prematurely due to basic failings in health care.
These include not being offered regular checks on blood pressure, eyesight and feet, which are prone to ulcers.
Diabetes UK chief executive Chris Askew said: ‘With four million people in the UK now living with diabetes, the need to tackle this serious health condition has never been so stark or so urgent. Tragically, we are continuing to see too many people with diabetes suffering serious complications, and even dying before their time, and we know that key reasons for this are that they are being denied both the care and access to education that would help them to manage their condition well.
‘It is vital that we start to see people with diabetes receive good quality care wherever they live rather than them being at the mercy of a postcode lottery.
‘We also need a concerted effort led by the Government to take active steps to address the fact that almost two in every three people in the UK are overweight or obese and are therefore at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.’
Diabetes occurs when the body either does not produce enough of the hormone insulin or cells do not properly react to it. This means it cannot break down glucose – sugar in the blood.
High glucose levels lead to organ damage, loss of eyesight, heart attacks and strokes.
Obesity is thought to trigger the condition as excess sugar causes the cells to stop responding to insulin. Ministers are due to publish their new obesity strategy next month following accusations t hey have f ail ed t o address the problem.
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, the Government agency responsible for tackling obesity south of the Border, said: ‘Sadly, too many people suffer from Type 2 diabetes and its serious health consequences. We must help prevent those at high risk of developing it from doing so.
‘The NHS diabetes prevention programme, due to begin national rollout in the spring, will help peo- ple make the lifestyle changes that lessen their risk – eating more healthily, being more physically active and achieving a healthy weight and waist size.’
Only yesterday r esearchers warned that average five-year-olds were consuming their body weight in sugar each year.
Separately a ‘worrying’ poll by the World Cancer Research Fund found 41 per cent of adults were unaware that being overweight increases the risk of cancer. Experts say 24,000 UK cases could be avoided every year if everyone was a healthy weight.