The association between the most common type of diabetes and
obesity is so strong that for most diabetes sufferers they go
together like a horse and carriage, the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare announced today.
The Institute was releasing its Diabetes: Australian Facts
2002 report for today's World Diabetes Day.
The report shows that people with Type 2 diabetes (covering
85-90% of cases) were significantly more likely to be either
overweight or obese than the general population.
The 10-15% with the less common early-onset Type 1 diabetes tend
to be of normal weight or underweight.
Dr Stan Bennett, who headed the report's author team, said that
the concern with overweight and obesity had been confirmed by
recently-released data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics,
which showed continuing increases in the prevalence of overweight
and obesity at all ages.
Diabetes: Australian Facts 2002 reports that among men
aged 25 or over, 89% of those with Type 2 diabetes were overweight
or obese (markedly overweight) compared with 67% of men in the
general population. 62% of those with Type 2 diabetes were obese
compared with 19% in the general population.
Among women aged 25 or over, 64% of Type 2 diabetes sufferers
were overweight or obese, compared with 51% of all women in this
age range. 43% of those with Type 2 diabetes were obese compared
with 21% in the general population.
The report estimates that the total number of diabetes sufferers
in the nation is approaching the 1 million mark, with strong
evidence that half of these sufferers are unaware that they have
the disease. The disease affects about 1 in 14 adults and is
involved in 1 in every 13 deaths. The number of adults with the
disease has trebled in the last 20 years.
Dr Bennett says that the diabetes epidemic is mostly the result
of rises in Type 2 diabetes, which is potentially preventable.
'It's potentially preventable because many of the major risk
factors for Type 2 diabetes are related to lifestyle and can be
modified-risk factors such as obesity, lack of physical activity,
and poor diet. They are all in themselves interrelated, and are
risk factors for other diseases too, such as heart disease, stroke,
and some cancers.'
'We're not saying that if you are overweight you will have
diabetes. What we are saying is that you greatly increase your
chances of getting diabetes if you are overweight or obese, and you
can lessen these chances if you manage your body weight through a
combination of diet and physical activity.'
'Diabetes is not a trivial condition. People with diabetes need
to manage it well so that potential serious complications can be
reduced. But people with the disease have a higher chance of
complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, blindness,
limb amputation, destructive gum disease and impotence.'
14 November 2002
Further information: Dr Stan Bennett, AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1141
For specialist medical comment: Dr Jeff Flack, Diabetes Centre,
Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, tel. 02 9722 8354
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, tel. 02 6244 1032
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for details.