Affluent Asians, Threatened by Diabetes

Filed in archive Education , Information on April 4, 2007

Whoever said that diabetes is a disease of the West may have been right, because now that affluent Asian middle class are adapting Western lifestyles, they're being threatened by diabetes.

Many city dwellers opt for high calorie fast food instead of healthier traditional meals and are becoming less and less physically active. This comes with a price: diabetes, mainly caused by excess weight and lack of exercise, has reached epidemic levels in Asia. The disease is growing at a faster pace in Asia than anywhere else in the world and is increasingly affecting younger people.

Now, diabetes is becoming an Asian disease. Asia is home to four of the world's 10 largest diabetic populations: India, China, Japan and Pakistan - as reported by Claudia Blume from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

This all boils down to the fact that lifestyle is the main culprit in diabetes. As long as people are eating high fast food diets and lacking exercise, it's like culturing diabetes in your midst, anywhere you are in the world.

Read the Claudia Blume's full report at VOA.