Rates of diabetes in Asia on rise, experts warn

Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic levels in Asia, where younger people are being affected, experts say.

"Childhood obesity has increased substantially and the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has now reached epidemic levels in Asia. The health consequences of this epidemic threaten to overwhelm health-care systems in the region," wrote South Korean diabetes specialist Yoon Kun-Ho, a professor at Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul, and his colleagues.

"Urgent action is needed, and advocacy for lifestyle changes is the first step," he concluded in this week's online issue of The Lancet, published ahead of World Diabetes Day next Tuesday.

Compared to Type 2 diabetes rates reported elsewhere in the world, the number of Asian cases has risen in a much shorter time. Asians are also affected at a younger age, 45 to 64, compared to over 65 in Europe and North America.

Among Chinese adults, the rate of diabetes tripled from one per cent to 3.2 per cent between 1980 and 1996. Prevalence has also risen in Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand in the past three decades.

Changes in behaviour, such as the adoption of a fatty, sugary fast-food diet and a sedentary lifestyle spent plopped in front of TV and computer screens is to blame, the study's authors said.

Preventive measures such as weight control and exercise are the first step, they said.

Body mass index differences

Diabetes is also hitting Asians with a lower body mass index compared with people of European descent of the same age and sex. Asian women in particular have a higher proportion of body fat that also tends to be stored around the abdomen compared with Europeans.

High blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol have been reported in Asians with a body mass index of less than 25, the conventional threshold for defining overweight.

"Waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio might be more appropriate indices of obesity for Asian people," the researchers said.

Studies also suggest Asians mayhave fewer beta cells in the pancreas, or flaws in the cells that make them likely to be resistant toinsulin, one of the major causes of diabetes.

In insulin resistance, the body does not use insulin properly to convert glucose to energy. People with Type 2 diabetes do not make enough insulin or their muscle, fat and liver cells may not use it properly.

By 2025, the International Diabetes Foundation estimates 333 million people worldwide will have diabetes, up from 194 million now.