Diabetes has reached pandemic proportions in China

The study, carried out by the "China National Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Study Group," is a fresh wake-up call and a reminder that what was once considered a "Western disease" now knows no borders.

A 2006 UN Resolution on Diabetes states that around 6 percent of the world’s adult population has the disease. It says diabetes is "one of the world’s most important causes of expenditure, mortality, disability and lost economic growth".

Many experts say it will be one of the most serious pandemics of the 21st century. Professor Rüdiger Landgraf of Germany's Diabetes Foundation says Asian countries will bear the brunt. "It is increasing rapidly and is expected to rise by up to 60 percent within the next 20 years."

10 percent of Asian Americans have type II diabetes

The most frequent kind of diabetes is type II, which used to be associated mainly with old age, but is affecting more and more young people.

"About 10 percent of Asian Americans are affected by type II diabetes," explains Qing Li, a research scientist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. "That is a very big number. They have high diabetes rates compared with Caucasians, suggesting a strong role of genetics in the development of diabetes. The complex interaction between genetics and the lifestyle leads to the increase of diabetes in Asian people."

This is also the case in Asia itself, where "in recent years the Chinese economy has developed very fast and people can have more Western-style food like McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken etc," says Qing Li.

"They have adapted to Western-style food," Landgraf agrees. "They have adopted Western eating and drinking habits. Coca Cola is considered a national drink by many in the USA and now in the rest of the world too. People tend to like things that are sweet."

He says high-sugar beverages and other extremely calorie-dense foods play a large role. The intake of too many calories over time warps the body’s production and use of insulin – one of the reasons the risk of getting type II increases with age.

Lack of exercise increases risk of diabetes

But there is another major factor, says Landgraf, and this is that people are getting a lot less exercise. "They are using cars more and more, which means that they are moving around a lot less while their calorie intake is staying the same or is even higher than before.

"These are the best conditions – especially if there is a genetic factor – for developing some kind of metabolic malfunction and eventually diabetes. If we were to get more exercise, then we would probably eat less. Eating has a lot to do with frustration, boredom, loneliness and other things. It isn't that we are hungry, but that we are looking for a replacement for other things that are missing in society today."

The new study also warns that there is an even higher number of pre-diabetics than diabetics. Moreover, the UN has found that in some countries up to 90 percent of people with diabetes do not receive treatment.

Author: Sarah Berning
Editor: Anne Thomas