Nutrition

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Seven Countries Study looked at the dietary patterns of people living in the Mediterranean region, and the term Mediterranean diet was coined for the first time. Traditional diets were considered to be largely responsible for the good health of people living in Greece and southern Italy. There is no single Mediterranean diet; 20 countries, each with its own socio-cultural and economic circumstances, have a coastline in the Mediterranean basin.

The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz provides an interesting metaphor for a discussion on type 2 diabetes. In the story, Dorothy, a young girl, is knocked unconscious during a tornado. She and her dog Toto are swept up in the storm and dropped into the Land of Oz, where she is told that to get back home, she must follow the Yellow Brick Road and seek out the magical wizard. Along the way, she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, who join her, hoping to receive what they lack themselves (a brain, a heart, and courage, respectively).

Environmental  factors,  such  as  lifestyle  and  dietary choices, play a key role in determining a child’s body weight. Omnipresent and relentless advertising for low-quality convenience foods together with an over-reliance during leisure hours on television, computers and video games are driving an alarming increase in the incidence of obesity-related non-communicable diseases like type 2 diabetes among young people worldwide.

Most developed countries and a growing number of low- to middle-income countries have seen an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and the trend is accelerating. Obesity represents a major public health issue in women due to its association with increased insensitivity to insulin, negative implications for reproductive health, including polycystic ovary syndrome and infertility, higher obstetric risks, gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Despite a fall in diabetes prevalence from around 35% in 1975 to 16% in 2004, obesity and non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, remain the primary threat to health and well-being confronting Nauru in the 21st century. Nauru has few natural resources and, with a population of only 10,000, does not have the critical mass to support manufacturing. Nor, with a tiny land mass of 21 km² and unfavourable topography and soil conditions, can it support farming.

Having lived with diabetes for many years, Ron Raab noticed that when he reduced the amount of carbohydrate in his diet, his blood glucose levels improved. His experience of the shortcomings of high-carbohydrate dietary recommendations in regulating his blood glucose led him to adopt an alternative approach. In this article, the author outlines his choice of a much reduced carbohydrate dietary intake as a key element of his diabetes management.

In many cases, overweight and obesity in children constitute a grim warning for future health: if no action is taken, an overweight or obese child is likely to grow into an overweight or obese adult with a series of chronic health problems – among them, type 2 diabetes. Indeed, obesity-related health conditions, including the metabolic syndrome – a strong risk factor for cardiovascular diseases – are increasingly prevalent among children around the world.

A culturally sensitive, intensive diabetes education service is being delivered in the community to people of ethnic-minority origin living with type 2 diabetes in Lothian, Scotland. Designed by a pharmacist, the initiative began as a research project, but the effectiveness and popularity of the programme resulted in its development and implementation as part of the local diabetes care package.

Type 2 diabetes has become the most common metabolic disorder. Its prevalence is growing most rapidly among people in the developing world, primarily due to the rapid demographic and epidemiological changes in these regions. According to IDF, India currently leads the world with an estimated 41 million people with diabetes; this figure is predicted to increase to 66 million by 2025. The diabetes epidemic is more pronounced in urban areas in India, where rates of diabetes are roughly double those in rural areas.