More than 89 million people in Asia have diabetes, a condition that health authorities dubbed as a global epidemic. Experts say the figures are rising in four of the top five countries in Asia that are burdened with the disease.
International data indicate that the most common type of diabetes (type 2) is preventable through healthy lifestyle and proper diet.
Experts worry on increasing girth sizes and that more children are now afflicted with type 2 diabetes.
Seven million people develop diabetes each year, the Asian Food Information Center (AFIC) revealed.
“And as we pass that lifestyle on to our children, more and more of them are developing diabetes. Up to half of all new cases of type 2 diabetes are now found in children and adolescents,” AFIC said.
To increase the public’s awareness on this epidemic, the International Diabetes Association has designated November 14 as World Diabetes Day.
AFIC has also posted information on diabetes symptoms in its website www.afic.org.
AFIC said that one in two people have early signs of diabetes but are unaware of it. Information on the website, AFIC experts said, will reveal if a person has type 2 diabetes, or if he is at high risk of developing it.
Diabetics are either overweight or obese, and simply reducing excess body weight by 7 to 10 percent reduces the chance of developing type 2 diabetes by half, the AFIC website said.
High levels of fat around the stomach or abdominal area is a huge concern, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) guidelines.
“Check your risk by measuring your waist circumference. To do this, use a tape measure midway between the lowest rib and the upper part of the hip bone. A waist circumference of less than 90 cm for men or less than 80 cm for women is considered low risk,” IDF said.
Experts, however, stressed that patients must seek professional advice to really determine whether they are diabetic or not.
The information can be accessed through the section “self-assessment risk for type 2 diabetes.”
The AFIC information site also provides the latest information on diabetes and what to do to avoid the disease. |
