Diabetes increases due to overweight and obesity

The number of diabetic patients in Vietnam is constantly increasing, in just the past 10 years it has increased by over 200%, the main causes of which are overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity... This is the information the Ministry of Health has warned on the occasion of World Diabetes Day this year (November 14).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes is currently the 6th leading cause of death and the 4th leading cause of death from non-communicable diseases. 80% of deaths from diabetes occur in low- and middle-income countries. It is also one of the causes of poverty. Without preventive action for this disease, there will be about 600 million people with diabetes globally in less than 25 years.

For Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen said that over the past decade, the number of people with diabetes in our country has increased very rapidly. Currently, the whole country has about 5.42% of the adult population with diabetes - double the number in 1990. Notably, up to 60% of people with diabetes are not detected and treated. More dangerously, out of 10 patients diagnosed with diabetes, 6 have complications such as blindness, foot ulcers, amputation, kidney damage. Not only that, if in the past, diabetes was considered a disease of the rich (because most people with the disease were in families with good economic conditions, leading to unreasonable eating, eating a lot of protein and sweets), now the number of people with this disease in our country is increasing rapidly, regardless of economic circumstances and living conditions. In addition, the age of diabetes is getting younger and younger, this is a very alarming issue because it affects the future of the country. If in the past, the patients were mainly in the age group of 40 - 45, now there are many patients who are children in the age group of 11 - 12.

Professor Nguyen Thy Khue, President of the Vietnam Association of Endocrinology and Diabetes, said that the increase in diabetes in our country is the result of a rapid change in lifestyle towards urbanization, lack of exercise, and an unreasonable diet. Diabetes is completely preventable if you have a healthy lifestyle. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to maintain a body weight appropriate to the stage of development, and to be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day. You should eat a lot of vegetables, reduce sugar, reduce fat, and not use tobacco. People at high risk such as: overweight, obese, over 45 years old, with gestational diabetes, family members with diabetes, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, women giving birth to babies over 4kg should have regular screening. In addition, everyone who goes to the hospital for any reason should have their blood sugar and blood lipids tested.

According to SGGPonline