Diabetes levels increased due to obesity

The number of people diagnosed with diabetes has soared by 50 per cent in just a year.

Official figures demonstrated the number of new cases rose from 100,000 in 2007 to 150,000 in 2008. Every three minutes someone new is diagnosed as a sufferer.

“I hope they will bring it home to people that losing weight is not just about looking good”

Those that represented the vast majority of sufferers were middle aged people with type two diabetes. This form of diabetes is linked to being overweight through a poor diet and little physical activity, and brings about an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, blindness and amputation.

The charity, Diabetes UK, released figures based on GP reports examining the toll of Britain’s obesity epidemic. A quarter of British adults are now obese, putting their life in danger and at risk of contracting diabetes.

Scientists estimate that unless the trend is reversed, more than 50 per cent of women and 60 per cent of men will be obese by 2050. 90 per cent of the 2.5 million diabetics in Britain are type two sufferers which generally develops later in life, leading to high blood sugar levels.

Experts have called these figures deeply worrying and ultimately this would have an overwhelming impact on the NHS, with soaring rates of heart disease and cancer as well as diabetes.

Dr David Haslam, clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said, “The cynics have been saying we are not seeing the rises in premature deaths that people like me have been warning about.
“But that is because the obesity epidemic only really started about 30 years ago, meaning people have not yet reached the age where they will die prematurely.
“What these figures clearly show is that these premature deaths will come. I hope they will bring it home to people that losing weight is not just about looking good.
“Obesity can lead to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, liver disease, problems in pregnancy and erectile dysfunction – all very serious.”