A survey conducted by Sun Life Financial among nearly 4,000 residents aged 25 and above from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines identified that more and more people from Asia are being diagnosed with the diabetes and fastest rate of growth was found in the Philippines.
Out of a population of 100 million around 5 million Filipinos are diagnosed with diabetes. In 2017, around 50,000 Filipinos died due to diabetes-related complications such as kidney failure, heart failure, stroke, and heart attack.
The Science Times, that described the figures as an epidemic, advised readers that people need to keep in mind that diabetes is a lifelong disease. It will require maintenance, regular check-ups, a change in lifestyle, and numerous restrictions when it comes to food intake. Also, diabetes can be inherited, which is why health experts encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle as early as possible, in order not to pass it down to the next generation in their family.
The change in the way that we eat can be one of the reasons to blame for the sudden increase in diabetic patients, especially in Asia. Food chains that are now globalized offer sweets and sugary drinks that are more accessible than healthy food. It also does not help that for Asian countries, rice is a staple food, and rice has tons of sugar.
Experts encourage people to eat more fruits and less sugary food, to drink more water instead of sodas, and to exercise more or at least be more active by walking or running to combat diabetes.
Advocacy Action – Ask your Government/State how fast diabetes in growing? What measures are being undertaken to reduce the rate of growth. Can you help publicise the prevention messages, perhaps working with diabetes organisations in your area.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are around 422 million people living with diabetes worldwide. Between 1980 and 2016 the number of people with diabetes quadrupled.
The rise is partly attributed to increases in the number of people who are overweight – including an increase in obesity – and in a lack of physical activity.
The largest numbers of people with diabetes were estimated for the South East Asia and Western Pacific Regions, accounting for approximately half the people with diabetes in the world.
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in the world. There are 1.6 million deaths directly attributed to diabetes each year. The majority of these deaths happen in low and middle-income countries.
Did you know? If people with diabetes were a country it would have the third largest population on the planet.