India is Diabetes Capital of the World

Filed in archive Information , Notable on September 3, 2007

In India, diabetes is not an epidemic anymore but has turned into a pandemic, according to the International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries which labeled India the diabetes capital of the world. Mainly because India now have the highest number of diabetic patients in the world

The international diabetes federation estimates that the number of diabetic patients in India more than doubled from 19 million in 1995 to 40.9 million in 2007. It is projected to increase to 69.9 million by 2025.

Currently, up to 11 per cent of India's urban population and 3 per cent of rural population above the age of 15 have diabetes.

Who ever said that diabetes is a western disease? Take note that India has its own set of diet (that is a lot different from what the rest of the world eats) so we really cannot blame the western diet for this fact. So to what would be blame the diabetes in India?

Various studies have shown that the high incidence of diabetes in India is mainly because of sedentary lifestyle, lack of physical activity, obesity, stress and consumption of diets rich in fat, sugar and calories.
The most prevalent is the Type 2 diabetes, which constitutes 95 per cent of the diabetic population in the country.

There you go, it has been said once more, the main culprit in type 2 diabetes: lifestyle - consisting of the kinds of food that people eat and the lack of exercise.

Read the full report at Hindu Times to find more details in this issue.